Exclusion
by Maethoriel Raina
Summary: During his fourth year, Gryffindor house is not as accepting of Harry's participation in the TriWizard Tournament, and use an old tradition called exclusion to force him into complaisance. Harry finds out who his true friends are and uses cunning to get his own brand of revenge.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. This disclaimer is for all following chapters.

Summary: During his fourth year, Gryffindor house is not as accepting of Harry's participation in the TriWizard Tournament, and use an old tradition called exclusion to force him into complaisance. Harry finds out who his true friends are and uses cunning to get his own brand of revenge.

A.N.: So with the finishing of Conspiracy I went hunting in my hard drive for another fic to start. This fic is _not_completed, however it does have about a third written already, and the plot is fully formed. There is a fic that helped spawn the idea but I can't find it anywhere. If it seems familiar, please let me know and I'll assign credit where credit is due. The Harry/Hermione is not a full blown relationship, but they will become closer by the end.

* * *

Harry was fuming.

He knew better than to hope for a normal school year. He should have known that something bad would happen on Halloween. After a troll, the Chamber being opened and an attempted attack by a mass murderer he should have been anticipating something that could top all previous Halloweens.

Half walking, half stomping back to the common room he wondered at the reception he was going to get. It hadn't escaped his notice that many of the shouts of cheat thrown at his back had come from the Gryffindor table.

Knowing that this year would be hard enough he hoped that at least he didn't have to deal with scorn from his own housemates.

How little did he know.

* * *

The mood in the common room was ugly. Harry felt it even before he recognised the looks on his housemates faces, living with the Dursley's had given him a sixth sense about these things.

Looking around he spotted Hermione, Neville and the Twins backed into the corner by the door with looks of helpless disbelief on their faces and directly opposite was Ron, holding court and as red in the face and his hair colour. Ginny was almost hidden by her year mates and was being comforted by Colin Creevey.

Next to them, but separate from the main group was Alicia, Angelina and Katie, his fellow Quidditch players. Before he could ask what was going on, a seventh year prefect, Collins Harry thought, walked forward and presented Harry with a rolled up piece of parchment.

"Harry Potter, due to your recent behaviour which has brought this house into disrepute, Gryffindor House has voted and the vote has passed with a majority. You are hereby excluded from Gryffindor House until such time as certain conditions are met. So Mote it Be."

With that Hermione pulled him back through the portrait hole he had just entered through. In a daze Harry followed her, only slightly aware of being followed by Neville and the twins.

"Hermione what was...?"

"Not now Harry, and not here."

* * *

They followed the Twins to the kitchens and sat at one of the side tables. No one spoke as helpful elves placed tea and cakes in front of them.

"Hermione, please?"

"Exclusion is an old right, not used in a couple of decades. It allows the students of a house to exclude a member that does something that they do not agree with. Previously, it was used for actions like constantly being in detention, or losing lots of points, that sort of thing. Behaviour that lowers the reputation of a House as a whole. It's a way of forcing said student to change their ways."

"And they can just do that? What about McGonagall?"

"She can't help Harry."

Hermione was almost sobbing now.

"I don't understand. It normally takes time, but Collins just called for a vote, and everyone was so worked up that the conditions were bandied about and written down so quickly, there was hardly time to think."

"That's probably because they didn't want anyone to calm down."

Fred nodded in agreement and Harry looked to George to explain further.

"Ron's always been jealous, but he was fuming when everyone met in the common room. Going on about how you always use you fame, and rub your wealth in his face all the time."

Harry made to interrupt, deny it, something but Fred got there first.

"We know you don't Harry, but they were angry and it was coming from your best friend, and then Collins starts going on about house pride..."

"And then someone says 'threaten him with exclusion, that'll make him tell the truth'. And it kind of went from there. Quite a few people tried to back out when the proclamation was being written, but Collins threatened anyone who didn't at least abstain would be considered the same as you. That quieted everyone down quickly."

"What did I ever do to Collins? I barely know him."

"He was the substitute seeker, didn't have a great record, but was going to get the position anyway as there was no one else who was even remotely good."

"And then I come in as a first year..." Harry understood but still.

"He took some ribbing for that."

"Quidditch? That's it?"

"That and he blames his rather poor OWLs on the whole Chamber of Secrets debacle. Said that no one could work with the distractions and babysitting the younger years. Blames you for that somehow."

"Blames me for the Basilisk? But I stopped it!"

"And don't think we've forgotten. Unlike some, we remember our debts."

"What? No! You don't owe me anything."

"Well actually we do, you saved our sisters life,"

"... but we would've stood by you even if you hadn't."

"Anyway, Collins seems rather like Ron in a way, blaming everything on someone else."

"He's nearly lost his badge twice,"

"...and was never even in the running for Head Boy,"

"...he must have thought this was his moment to shine."

They all sat in silence to absorb that.

"What about my things? All of our things?"

"Traditionally excluded students are housed elsewhere until the exclusion is over. Our things would be taken there."

"I'm not waiting that long, who knows what they'll do to it."

Hermione seemed to understand his panic, though the other three couldn't. Did he really think they would damage his things? No matter what, McGonagall wouldn't stand for that.

"Harry, no. You're not allowed back in, not until exclusion is over." Harry sat back down looking despondent.

"Look McGonagall will be able to get our things. I'm sure nothing will be taken." Harry nodded and stared at the still rolled up parchment detailing the proclamation until a passing elf caught his notice.

"Dobby!"

"Master Harry Potter calls for Dobby! What can Dobby be ...?"

Harry had grabbed the elf by his shoulders and looked him straight in the eye, before the others had even recognised the pop as the elf's arrival.

"Dobby I need you to listen. I need you to get all my things out of the tower and bring them here. My trunk, everything Dobby, as quickly as you can."

A quick pop was his answer and then silence while Harry got up and paced. Not a few seconds later Dobby appeared with Harry's trunk open and a pile of clothes, books and toiletries piled on top of it.

"Did you open the trunk Dobby?" Harry asked warily.

"No Master Harry Potter, Mr. Potter's Wheezy was looking, searching through it, but Dobby had his orders Master Harry Potter Sir."

At the word 'No' both Harry and Hermione dove towards the trunk and started throwing clothes and books out, obviously searching for something.

"Map..." An old folded piece of parchment was quickly placed on the table before Harry dove back in.

Seconds later "Cloak." This time from Hermione untangling a shimmery fabric from the pile of clothes that had been tossed.

"Photo album and money pouch."

There was a pause before both turned back. A drawer slid from nowhere and both of them started rummaging around until they were satisfied. The drawer was closed before anyone else could see what was in there.

"Later guys." Harry said, stalling any questions, before turning to Dobby who was now wringing his hands so hard it must have hurt.

"Did Dobby do wrong?" He seemed a second away from seizing the teapot from the table and bashing himself over the head with it.

"No! No, Dobby you were great. I have valuable things in my trunk, precious things. And you got them before anyone could get them. Thank you Dobby." Before there was an onslaught of tears Harry quickly continued.

"Could you do the same for Neville's, Hermione's and the twins things and bring them here as well."

Looking to the mentioned students and getting nods Dobby popped out again. Harry looked at the mess he and Hermione had made. Sighing he started the fun task of trying to put everything back in some sort of order, when a passing elf clicked her fingers and his things were packed neatly away, even his books had been alphabetised. Looking up to say thank you, said elf had disappeared into the many still working at this hour. Harry shook his head. Why anyone would abuse such wonderful creatures he never knew. He probably thought that twice as strongly as most wizards though, he had had experience of being a house elf, and so loved them even more.

After refreshing their tea and thanking Dobby once he returned with all four trunks untouched, the five of them rolled out the parchment that Harry had been given and which had been ignored until now. Though the others knew what it said, for Harry it was the first time reading it, and he suddenly realised why disbelief was the prominent emotions on his friend's faces when he entered the common room.

The conditions would be humiliating if he _had_placed his name in the goblet, even more so when he knew he hadn't. Exclusion was meant to be a big punishment, but looking at the conditions set down Harry was sure trying to end it would be worse.

A full public apology. Academic probation for a year, which meant he would have been excluded from playing Quidditch. It also meant mandatory monthly class tests. Harry couldn't help but think that was Ron's contribution to the mandate. He did seem more excited about the suspension of end of year tests than the prize money. House probation for a month, with weekly detentions and suspension of Hogsmeade privileges. But what really made him angry was that those conditions applied to those that supported him as well.

Harry looked at the names on the sheet again and was grateful for his true friends. His fame meant that he rarely interacted with the majority of his housemates in anything more deeply than a conversation over homework. They all wanted a piece of the Boy Who Lived, nobody cared about Harry, except his true friends. A few hours ago Harry would have sworn that Ron was one of them. Just goes to show that nothing could be taken for granted.

He looked up at those he could count on. Hermione, Neville, Fred and George.

Hermione had been his friend since Halloween first year when Ron had carelessly hurt her with his words, trying to impress Harry and cover his embarrassment at being outshone by a Muggleborn.

Neville was always on the outskirts of Harry's friends. He didn't fit in with Seamus and Dean either, and Harry was ashamed to admit, he had allowed Ron to be rather overbearing as to who else they spent time with.

The twins were Ron's prankster brothers who were always there when he needed them. They had given him their most prised possession to help him out, even before they knew who his father was.

And tonight they had stood up against their brother and the rest of the house. Ginny had done so too, but was apparently cowed enough to at least abstain by the threat of the exclusion applying to her as well.

To be honest, quite a few of those he thought of as casual friends had abstained. He wondered if the conditions weren't so harsh, how many of them would have actually voted outright against exclusion. But then again that was probably the point. Only when the vote was close, was the abstained votes brought into consideration and the leaders wouldn't risk failing to get the majority.

Sitting in the kitchens watching the house elves move around tidying up after another horrible Halloween, they were all still shell shocked by what had happened in the space of an hour. Now however wasn't the time to go to pieces. Now was the time to plan, but first they had to let McGonagall know.

Sending a note with Dobby, McGonagall arrived not ten minutes later. It was obvious that she had still been up, though the more relaxed attire she was wearing made her seem that much more approachable. After a quick discussion and seeing her students' state she decided that the conversation could wait until tomorrow.

Leading them to rarely used guest quarters she was pleased to see the Hogwarts elves had beaten them there. Though rather spartan, everything was clean and usable.

"Well make yourselves at home. Though I normally wouldn't trust you two," she asked looking at the twins "please look after the other three."

Shushing the objections of all of the students in front of her McGonagall explained further.

"Though I am sure you three can look after yourselves, rules state that there must be a responsible presence around, which is one of the reasons prefect positions are granted in fifth year. Though the idea of these two as prefects makes me shudder, it allows all of you to stay together. Otherwise I might be forced to find housing elsewhere."

Nodding in acceptance they watched as she left them to get settled, with the promise of a meeting tomorrow evening to discuss the next steps. They were in a small sitting room, a smaller version of the Gryffindor common room, with seats around a fire and book shelves along the walls. To the side there was a large table that could be used for dining or work space. There were three doors leading off from the room, two on one side and one on the other. Seeing the boys head off to the two doors to the right Hermione headed to the room on the left where she found her room.

A queen sized bed, bookshelves all along the walls, a large desk and matching chest of drawers were changes to the usual fare of Gryffindor dormitories. Wondering at the luxury Hermione found an even greater surprise when she discovered the attached en suite. It made sense as she was the only girl that was staying there, but found it great that she wouldn't have to battle for bathroom time with Parvati and Lavender. Dragging her trunk to the end of the bed she set about enthusiastically setting out her things. Forget the en suite; having a dedicated space for her work and books was like a dream come true.

Discovering two rooms instead of the communal dormitory they were expecting, the boys split up without thinking. The twins taking one room, and Harry and Neville the other. Like Hermione they found two queen sized beds, a chest of drawers and desk each, though the furniture was squashed into a limited space perhaps even using a little magic here and there. It was however, much roomier than what they were used to, and having someone they knew sharing with them made sure they wouldn't get lonely. The bathroom was entered via a connecting door and they found another one straight to the twins room.

Quickly collecting the twins who were no doubt planning mischief, they made their way back into the common room and weren't surprised in the least to see that Hermione had beaten them there, her head already in a book. Seeing them enter she settled the book on the small table in front of her and gave them all an appraising look. Harry used to this just sat down and returned it, but the twins unsettled as to the resemblance to a Professor they all knew, started to squirm.

Laughing at their reaction she asked them all to sit.

"I've been thinking," continuing on over the snorts of laughter, "what do you know about exclusion, aside from the basics?" Harry also seeing where this was going spoke up first.

"Exclusion is a house punishment towards an individual or group that have done something to dishonour their house. It has to be voted for by the students of the house in question with a majority vote. Basically it's used when they don't want you in the House anymore. I only really know what you covered before. Why?"

"That's basically correct. It's the students' way of denouncing behaviour mostly. Say if one student is always doing bad things, such as lying, losing points and getting detentions. They have the ability to basically shun that student until the behaviour is corrected. Now the vote has to be passed with a majority. And if the vote is passed they can put conditions, on when the exclusion is lifted."

"Admit I entered? No way am I going to lie to get back into a house that doesn't show me loyalty."

"I wasn't going to ask you to. Anyway, the reason that most of these exclusions are successful is because if you vote to support the person you are normally included in the exclusion if the vote is passed. As such, most just vote to abstain, they support the person in an abstract way while not being punished if the vote is successful."

"Yeah. Thanks guys." Harry said, chocked with feeling.

He was grateful that he had some good friends that would risk something of this magnitude. He found himself with a strong comforting hand on his shoulder and found himself looking at a changed Neville Longbottom.

"Well that was rather my point. Most students who were excluded didn't have any support. Okay, so in most cases that was probably deserved, but it was an added pressure to behave better. Now any student excluded is no longer part of the House. That means that aside from not living in the dormitories and eating at the house table, they can't play Quidditch and no points can be taken from the house total."

"Seems simple enough?"

"Yes but what if we were to turn it on them? A little payback maybe?"

"Hermione Granger suggesting a prank? I never thought I would see the day Gred."

"The world must surely be ending Forge."

"Oh hush you two. Now what do you think about this..."

And so The Plan was born.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

A.N.: Thank you to everyone who took the time to let me know what they thought. As to Hermione/Harry it won't be a full blown relationship but friendship with romantic overtones. As they're fourteen and good friends, it feels wrong to write it any other way. But I wanted to let my readers know as I understand some people have very strong likes and dislikes about what they read. So next chapter is up and you'll see the start of the plan unfolding. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

The next morning Harry was seated at the breakfast table before the food was served. Next to him was Neville. The boy had really surprised him last night, unswayable even under the pressure of the house and even in the face of exclusion himself. For Harry was sure that it was Ron who had whipped the other Gryffindor's into such a frenzy, and Collins would never have risked his prefect position if he wasn't certain of the outcome.

Opposite him were Hermione and the twins. For the first time in three years his best friend was sitting comfortably between the two pranksters and not batting an eyelid. In fact she was reading while still picking at the fruit in front of her. A few of the early birds were looking on in astonishment. Nobody was at ease eating next to the twins without constantly checking their food, clothes and body parts.

The five of they were eating quietly, a few words here and there. As the hall filled they kept their heads down, they didn't want to risk a confrontation before everyone was here. Seeing McGonagall enter and sit at the table Harry looked to her and received a nod in return. A quick note this morning had informed her of what he wished to do.

Waiting became even tenser. Harry and Neville with their backs to the wall were able to see the gossip literally spreading to the other tables with a ripple like effect. There was undisguised glee on the Slytherin's faces, the Ravenclaw's were thoughtful, though what really surprised him was the worried looks from the Hufflepuff table. The angry looks from last night were really understandable, he _had_ stolen Cedric's thunder by being the fourth champion. If anyone deserved to be angry at him it was them.

When the hall was full and there was only ten minutes before everyone needed to leave, McGonagall stood up. Clearing her throat she surveyed the students in front of her. It didn't escape her notice that the not so secret mutterings along the Gryffindor table had turned into knowing smirks on some of the students faces. Hiding her own smile she addressed the waiting students.

"Last night Mr Potter was announced as a fourth champion of the TriWizard tournament. Though this is extremely unusual it was decided that he is contractually obliged to continue in the competition. However, he wishes it to be known that he is competing under duress and Mr Diggory is the _only_ Hogwarts champion."

By this time Harry had made his way to the front of the hall. All eyes were on him, and there was an expectant air among the more knowledgeable students. He wasn't going to do it? Was he?

Harry glanced up, keeping his posture submissive he glanced about. People were normally freer with their emotions when they believed they had won. He was looking for something specific among the students. For some the victorious expression was expected, Malfoy and some of the other Slytherins for example, though he noted a few were surprisingly blank. Diggory was a surprise, he was being held back from saying anything by a few of the students around him.

It was the superior expression on Ron's face that really raised his ire. If he were about to apologize, that expression alone would have given him pause. Collins' supercilious nature was shining through, though it was rather obvious that it wasn't getting the response he expected. Quite a few of the neighbouring students had edged away, not making eye contact.

Harry took a deep breath and stepped forward a pace. McGonagall turned and retreated back to her seat at the teachers table, resting her hand on his shoulder for just a second. Well here goes nothing. Harry raised his head slightly and allowed his posture to change. Remembering Hermione's words he remembered the elation of freeing Sirius. A rather large part of satisfaction from that night was gained from beating the resident potions master.

"I did not enter my name in any way in the tournament. Not directly, indirectly and not by any trickery. I understand that this may be hard to believe, so..." he said over an increase in noise as he drew his wand.

"I Harry James Potter do swear upon my magic that I in no way entered myself into the tournament. I was entered without my consent and without my knowledge. So mote it be."

With that Harry offered a cocky smirk at the flabbergasted faces of Ron and Collins, and the somewhat shocked faces of the other Gryffindor's who had voted for exclusion. He walked down and took his bag from Hermione and joined her and Neville leaving the hall for their first class. The twins flanking them to stop any magical rejoinders.

No mention was made of the fact that all five of them were without house affiliation showing on their uniform. Traditionally it was not spoken of; it would have been obvious what had happened as it was a process that would normally have occurred over a week or more. Rumours were the only thing that reached the other houses over breakfast, though the more knowledgeable among them had comprehended the statement that all five were making. It was a conscious choice to remove the colours and badges, and return all the uniforms to a Hogwarts standard.

"Well I think that went pretty well." Hermione sighed; she was vibrating with unreleased tension. "Next stop, Potions."

A slight moan came from her other side. Looking at Neville with worry she was glad to see a shy grin appear on his face. Whatever happened they would face it together.

* * *

The cold of the potions laboratory soothed all three of them and focused their minds on surviving the upcoming confrontation. It was going to happen; they just hoped that at least one particular Slytherin showed some of the cunning they were known for.

Harry, Hermione and Neville were seated at a rarely used table in front of the teacher's desk, clearly separating themselves from either side of the classroom. Their supplies were already ready in front of them and they kept a face forward attitude as the other Gryffindor's entered. If you didn't know otherwise, you would have thought they were the ones doing the shunning, and in a way you would be right.

The Plan that they had laid out the night before was to use the exclusion to the best benefit of themselves while hindering the Gryffindor's as a house, and some of them rather more personally.

Snape swooped in to the classroom in his usual bat like manner. Gliding towards the three at the front, he took note of the expectant sniggers from both sides of the classroom. Resisting rolling his eyes and making a mental note to talk to his snakes again, he looked purposefully at the Hogwarts badges showing over the left breast of the student robes. Looking at Granger he realised that she was looking back at him with her usual polite face, marred only by the slight smirk. Longbottom was as nervous as ever. Moving on to the epicentre of the drama he was given a small nod of the head, as if to say, 'go on, you know you want to'.

Turning his back on the class he wrote 'Metamorphose Potions' on the board.

"Who can tell me the general nature of all these potions?" With less speed and vigour than usual, Hermione raised her hand.

"Miss Granger." Surprisingly polite.

"Potions that change the physical appearance and/or structure of the object. A potions version of Transfiguration. It actually changes the construct of something rather than just its appearance as a charm would, or the Potions equivalent, say a hair colour potion."

"Ten points to ...hmn?"

The resulting sniggers were timed well enough that even Trelawney could have predicted them. Really he was going to have to talk to his snakes about actually using their brains. Didn't they realise that they were mimicking the Gryffindor's? Oh, the horror. Granger however merely smiled as he thought she might, he merely nodded at her answer.

"Hogwarts, please Professor."

You could hear the aborted snickers dying in the throats.

"Ten points to Hogwarts then," turning back to the class as a whole, "an example of such a potion?"

Potter raised his hand, a great deal surer of himself than he usually was in this position. However they were both working towards the same goal here. A peace offering as it was, they could have orchestrated this elsewhere, instead of giving him the very great pleasure of knocking down the Gryffindor's while simultaneously teaching his Slytherin's a valuable lesson. And the three Hogwarts students? Well they weren't Gryffindor's anymore and were using rather a lot of cunning. That settled things in his mind.

"Potter."

"Polyjuice potion Professor." A nod confirmed this as correct but didn't give points, this was Potter after all.

"And how long does this potion last?" Smirks were almost audible.

"One dose lasts an hour professor, Professor. Though this can vary somewhat depending on the freshness of the ingredients and the time since the potion was brewed."

Another nod and "Twenty points to ...Hogwarts," after he received an answering nod back. No more smirks. Hmm?

Three for three?

"Who can tell me the most common ingredient used in all Metamorphose Potions... and why it is used." Most hands dropped at that.

"Mr Longbottom."

"Fluxweed, Professor. It usually is used in the base, though can be used as a separate ingredient and is used due to the changeable properties it naturally exhibits. This facilitates the change, but more importantly the reversal of said change."

All this drama must have done wonders for the boy's backbone he mused. Not a single stutter and he was confident as well as competent. Yes, a complete change indeed.

"Correct, another twenty points to Hogwarts." Maybe he was being a touch generous, but it all benefited his snakes in the end, something that Miss Greengrass and Davis seemed to have gathered. Draco seemed torn between anger at his treatment of the ex Gryffindor's, confused of said treatment and pleased at the outrage on Weasley's face.

"You will be placed in pairs, to research and investigate the uses of a randomly selected potion from said category. You will then attempt to brew said potion this term. If unsuccessful you have until Easter to successfully complete it. Space has been made available in the student lab; each area is specifically warded against cheating and sabotage. This project will be making up half your grade this year. It was my intention after talks with the headmaster about school unity, that the couples would have a student from each house. However, as that is not possible now, the list will be drawn from names alphabetically."

With that he started calling out names.

"Brown and Zabini. Bulstrode and Weasley. Crabbe and Thomas. Davis and Patil. Finnegan and Parkinson. Goyle and Nott. Greengrass and Malfoy. Each pair will pick a parchment from this pile, please let me know which potion you have chosen. A foot long introductory essay _per group_ is to be handed in next week, with an emphasis on the study plan that you have constructed to cover one lesson a week for this term and of course extra time outside of lessons."

While there was much shuffling, especially amongst those with partners who were either unknown or hated, Snape turned his attention to the remaining three.

"Due to the circumstances you will work as a group. However when marked, that there are three of you will be taken into consideration."

They nodded and left Hermione to pick up the remaining parchment.

* * *

After collecting the groups chosen potions, Snape had dismissed them all to start on their planning. Whether by chance or pre planning they had been assigned Polyjuice potion. Perhaps it was a dig at their second year on Snape's part?

"I don't know about you two but I really want to do _extremely well_ in this."

The other two nodded, but were rather unsure about what that would entail. Hermione's normal standard of school work was rather exacting, both were wondering what 'extremely well' meant.

After seeing the title of the potion, Hermione had asked, and received, a pass for the restricted section which Madame Pince had checked like it held the secrets to the known universe. Finally allowing them access, they sat at one of the reading tables while Hermione fetched 'Moste Potente Potions' from its place in the Restricted Section.

Returning with a few additional books as was her want, Hermione set to organising them with tasks to perform. Neville was to look over the ingredients and note which ones they would need to make special provision for and then start noting the relevant moon positions and harvesting times. He happily started in on the work; this was the bit in potions he was actually good at.

Harry was set the task of writing out an introduction to the potion, and copying out the procedure needed. Later he would work with both of them to arrange a brewing schedule. They knew from experience that some of the stages could be annoyingly timed. Hermione meanwhile was looking at the history of the potion, while jotting down notes on ways in which to extend the project and ensure that all three of them got top marks.

Concentrating on their school work, they ignored their peers and stayed together, more out of a need to be with people they could trust than anything else. Hermione and Neville were the most shaken about the whole thing, though fighting back the way they were was helping build their confidence; they were still affected the most by having their house exclude them. Harry himself had been through the mass shunning of the school over the Heir of Slytherin debacle and that he had friends in the same situation helped, though he sometimes wished he hadn't dragged them into it.

It was absorbing work and lunch time rolled around before they knew it. Making their way towards the Great Hall, the kitchens beckoned but they needed to show their faces to make a point, they were waylaid by a puffing Cedric Diggory.

"Harry, wait up." They paused and waited for the seventh year. "Look, I know I wasn't very supportive last night but it kind of took be by surprise you know?" Harry just nodded. Yes he could understand but he really wanted to know where this was heading.

"What you said, about me being the Hogwarts Champion, it made a difference you understand?" Harry was sure that the older boy was known for being much more confident than this.

"Look what I'm trying to say is that what Gryffindor did, excluding you, all of you, was just wrong. Hufflepuff, well we value loyalty over everything, and I wanted you to know that Hufflepuff will support you. You can sit at our table anytime if you like, and join in with house activities if you want."

"And the rest of Hufflepuff? If I remember correctly more than a few of the insults last night were from them." Hermione asked. She wasn't trying to be antagonistic, but she was through with letting things slide.

"We wouldn't want to make any trouble. We have enough as it is." Harry interrupted.

"Why don't you join me for lunch? All those I've spoken with have supported the idea, and the rest of the school will see that there's no bad feelings?"

"That would be great Cedric."

They started moving down the corridor, Cedric and Harry had fallen into step with Hermione and Neville following behind them. After all this time, Hermione was still surprised at the bonding nature of boys, competitors not a minute ago, now they were bonding over the lack of Quidditch that year.

But, well, wasn't that a great idea?

The noise level dropped and then rose when they entered the Great Hall. Obviously the couple of hours respite had bolstered the flagging morale at the Gryffindor table, and there were stony glares and turning of backs. It didn't have the effect it was meant to.

After a quick glance Harry had shrugged his shoulders and followed Cedric to the middle of the Hufflepuff table where they were introduced to his seventh year friends. Some of the other Hufflepuffs seemed surprised, but made an effort to seem welcoming. The Ravenclaws were also seen to give approving nods. The Slytherins were true to nature and sat back observing everything, though one blonde haired fourth year was becoming even more irate.

Was everything going to go Potter's way this year?

Hermione had settled in at the Hufflepuff table and was listening in on the conversations going on around her. It seemed that no matter which house table you sat at Quidditch was the main topic. Shaking her head at the fact, she waited for her opening. It came when there was another complaint about the cancellation of the games and what type of damage it would do to the team's performance next year, when Hermione finally spoke up.

"Why?"

It had stopped conversation. That was a rather stupid question coming from one known to be so smart, when Ernie tried to explain she waved him away.

"No, I meant why should the cancellation of the House matches mean you stop playing Quidditch?" There was silence down the table as even a few Ravenclaws stopped to listen.

"Why not use this as an opportunity? I don't know, organise friendly matches with the other houses, and we have students from other schools, maybe they would want to field a team. Or how about running some Quidditch workshops for the younger years? It was only by chance that Harry made the team, but I'm sure a few of the students in the lower years have talent. And if you train them up now and play them in a few games, they won't be completely new at it next year. At the very least you know who you could field as reserve players." The silence was broken by Cedric scribbling down some of the ideas on parchment in front of him.

"How did you think of that?" Hermione just shrugged.

"It always seemed strange that tryouts were held but there was no training or anything. No way to improve and train if you weren't on the team already. And well, seven students from an entire house? That doesn't give much opportunity for the other students now does it?" Hermione shrugged and acted nonchalant.

It hadn't been part of The Plan, but it would _really_ annoy her old house, Ron in particular. With the Twins and Harry unable to play and with Oliver leaving last year Gryffindor had three chasers, all of whom had supported Harry. Even if they did play, finding a keeper, beaters and seeker wouldn't be easy and neither would training them to work as a team.

There was talk at the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables now. It was fun to see that nobody was walking over to the Gryffindor table to let them in on the gossip.

There was a pause when the Hufflepuff's were joined by the Weasley twins. Hands came to cover their plates and goblets.

"Never mind all of that now..."

"...yeah, we have decided to focus more on our studies this year." There were a few disbelieving looks at that, their attitude to school work was legendary.

"...that's right, wouldn't want to get caught and lose all the points Miss Granger gets now would we Forge..."

"...of course not Gred. That would only benefit our old house now wouldn't it George..."

"...too right Fred, especially with NEWTs next year."

"Stop it, you're giving everyone headaches."

Now that Hermione mentioned it Harry could see a few of the Hufflepuff's looking rather disorientated.

"Hermione threatened them, if they disrupted her studying," he said as way of explanation. Actually it explained rather a lot. "I also promised to invest in their joke shop if they graduate with good NEWT results." The twins were just nodding, respectful of the fact that Hermione was now reading.

"Yep, so you are all safe for now,"

"… well most of you are." There were a few nervous looks sent to the Gryffindor table as the surrounding students made a note to not eat there any time soon.

"Um... can I ask a question?" This was from Susan Bones, another fourth year student that Harry was friendly with if not 'friends'.

"About the points. I've heard a few rumours about your potions class. Did Snape really give you points?" that focused even the twins attention, and everyone in the immediate vicinity. "It's just that Davis swore it was true, and well, she was smiling about it."

"Yes it's true." Looking at the surrounding students, even Neville and Hannah Abbot had stopped their conversation. Neville was waiting with a big grin on his face, and Hannah seemed torn as to where she should be looking. Looks like Neville had made a new friend.

"When excluded, a student stops being a member of a particular house. So when points are taken away, it doesn't affect the house total, but is taken from the student as an individual." There were a few nods at this, it made sense as one of the reasons for exclusion was if a student routinely lost points for poor conduct.

"But the whole point is to modify that student's behaviour, so if they want to become part of a house again they would have to at least maintain an average of zero over the period to complete one of the most frequent conditions of the proclamation. Now as we are excluded not expelled we are still Hogwarts students, and so we can still be awarded points. Now normally these might benefit the house that the student came from, but we decided that if Gryffindor didn't want us, then we wouldn't try very hard to get back in." Hermione shrugged at that. It still hurt.

Harry took over the explanation. "So by having the points awarded to Hogwarts they are shared over the other three houses, unless of course, another house also supports the exclusion."

"And if you lose points?" This was said with a sideways glance to the twins who put on overly dramatic faces of hurt.

"Then we have to earn the points back before they are once again distributed to the houses."

"I didn't notice any difference, not fifty points anyway." That earned a few intense looks. Snape awarded how many?

"They are totalled up and awarded each night. Something to do with records or something."

There was suddenly a bout of giggles from Susan and Hannah.

"Can you imagine the effect on Gryffindor's house total? I'm sure Hermione must half carry the house by herself." Hermione shrugged.

"I have to, trying to keep us in positive points." She said with a meaningful look at the twins who just grinned back. "Anyway I have help. Neville always knows more in Herbology and Harry is a wiz at Defence."

Lunch slowly broke up after that and they moved on their next class. The rest of the day was uneventful. After classes the three fourth years spent time in the library before heading to dinner, once again sitting at the Hufflepuff table who went out of their way to make them feel welcome. After dinner all five of them met back at their common room and discussed the day while going over the Plan and waiting for the meeting with McGonagall.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

* * *

The meeting with McGonagall ended up being a meeting with all four Heads of Houses. It had just started, and as of yet nobody had said anything.

"I tried to talk them around, but the vote has to be overturned. As much as some of them wish to, I believe that being made to publically admit they are wrong is stopping them."

McGonagall was listless. The fire that normally propelled her when one of her cubs had been wronged was hampered by the knowledge that this time, they were wronged by her own house.

"Gryffindor pride and stubbornness at its finest," Snape snorted.

It would normally have caused a reaction from the six Gryffindors in the room but house pride was at an all time low just then.

"So now you are all without a house, and as such a Head of House." At this Professor McGonagall slumped. "The rules state that I cannot be your Head due to conflict of interest. Now I know you think you can survive quite well without adult supervision, you probably could for the most part," at this there was a side long glance at the twins, "but even for just appearances sake, you need to have a designated staff member."

Harry nodded and a quick glance to Hermione he got a small nod in return. The twins and Neville had been silent throughout this exchange, though they had talked it through the night before they were letting Harry and Hermione take the lead.

"On the issue of Head of House, well, we were hoping that Professor Flitwick would consent to take that role. No offense Ma'am," he said turning to Sprout, "but I know things may be strained with some of the Hufflepuff's for a while and we didn't want to put you in a such a position. It wouldn't be fair on you, or your house."

"And hopefully it won't take up any of your time," this was directed at Flitwick but generated a disbelieving scoff from Snape, "the twins will be busy enough as is." The piecing looks he got from the twins were matched in power from his ex Head of House.

"Nothing untoward I promise. I'll just be needing some extra tutoring on spells and such to even make it out of the tasks alive, and no offense Professors, but changing a mouse into a snuffbox won't help much, and technically I can't get help from any Hogwarts employee unless it's school work."

Professor McGonagall was rather mollified by this but it was Snape who saw the ramifications before anyone else.

"And any of your fourth year friends asking for help about advanced spells would be suspicious, but not if two sixth years who barley achieved any OWLs did... almost Slytherin."

"Well the Hat did want to put me there. And on that note, if you don't mind, I think I'll say goodnight, it's been a long day."

With that Harry left all four Professors open mouthed, the twins sniggering in the corner and Hermione and Neville returned to planning study schedules.

* * *

After Charms class that week, Flitwick asked the three ex-Gryffindors to stay behind. He was much less involved in his house than say Sprout, as his students pretty much regulated themselves, he still took his duties seriously however. That these duties now included the three students in front of him, meant that he had to get to know them and be approachable if they had any problems.

He had meetings with members of his house at least once a month, and for those who had troubles with schoolwork, once a week. The exclusion of a student necessarily created problems for said student. He wasn't worried about these three academically, in fact they seem to be doing fine in that area, but more the social aspects of the current situation.

Professor McGonagall's start of school speech to the first years was correct in that the student's house was their surrogate family while at Hogwarts. To be rejected by that family and then ostracised was something that had a deep reaching effect on even the most emotionally balanced individuals. It was true that the five of them had been accepted by the other students and were now welcomed easily at the Hufflepuff table as one of their own. Nevertheless, he _had_noticed a change in all five of the students.

The twins were actually much quieter than they were before. It had reached the teachers of their newfound dedication to their studies and the reason for it. Still the change, while gratifying, was also worrying. Their previous identity had been the 'Gryffindor Pranksters', now that it had been taken away for them, he was worried that they hadn't found another outlet. He was hoping to suggest some extra tutoring. They really were genius' the way they incorporated different magic into their pranks, and he had a few archaic spells that might interest them. Hopefully by giving them new material to contemplate, it would help them adjust.

Hermione Granger was actually more relaxed now than she had ever been. There was less of the frantic nature that had surrounded her for the last three years and he had to wonder how much of that was because she now didn't have to push her friends into completing their own work. That she had done so, was suspected, but never really proven until now. Ron Weasley's homework the past week had been shockingly under par. Her own work was perfect as usual, though he had noticed that the work submitted was only slightly extended from what he had asked for. Wondering where her other time was now spent would be a fun mental exercise. It couldn't _all_be focused on the potions project that seemed to be keeping the fourth years busy.

Neville Longbottom actually seemed to have benefited the most out of the five students. Like Miss Granger, he was much more relaxed, and was often one of the first to succeed in successfully casting a spell. Though he did live with four rather brilliant tutors. The twins who would be able to introduce the material about to be covered, Miss Granger who picked things up remarkable quickly, and Harry Potter one of the more powerful and able students he had ever had the privilege to teach.

The uneven application Harry applied to his work in the past was understandable, if not regrettable. He had hoped that this year would be different, but it seemed that once again Harry was on the road to having a very difficult year. Potter was actually the least affected by the exclusion, at least on the outside. His work was actually improving and without the influence of Ronald Weasley he seemed that much more easily focused on his work in class. Though that could be less to do with the absence of Weasley, and more to do with the added attention he had been receiving ever since his name had issued from the goblet. For all his fame and past heroics, the boy seemed rather shy.

* * *

Poppy Pomfrey was taking stock of her medicinal stores. As the nurse in a magical school, she saw her fair share of injuries both mundane and magical. However this tournament was beyond the pale. She had been worried beforehand, but now that her most troublesome patient was involved she anticipated that she was going to have a busy year.

Which is why the sight of said student walking into the hospital wing under his own power, and surprisingly unhurt, was not much of a surprise. Followed by Miss Granger and Mr Longbottom, neither of whom looked worried calmed her fears, though knowing his past adventures her wand was out and casting diagnostic spells before he was able to greet her.

"I'm fine Ma'am."

"Hmm, we'll see about that."

Though the diagnostic charm didn't report anything wrong and her sharp eyes hadn't picked up on any hidden injuries she wasn't going to give up that easily.

"Professor Flitwick suggested that I have a medical check up. That we all should. Apparently he has his students in yearly for a physical?"

"Yes, it's always a good thing to have a check up every now and then. It helps spot problems before they become too serious, and I also help with other matters that student's may be too embarrassed to talk to their Heads of House about."

That was said with a quick glace to the girl who was hovering slightly. A blush told the nurse that she had been understood, though if that was the case Mr Longbottom's presence was surprising.

Harry nodded. It was what Professor Flitwick had said and it made sense. So much so that he wondered why it wasn't mandatory. Thinking aloud, he was answered.

"Medical issues are very private things Mr Potter, especially so in the magical world. Even the Ravenclaw students may decline if they wish to do so, however most have no problems with it. So you all require physicals?"

She was answered by three nodding heads and directed them to sit on the ends of the beds.

"Professor Flitwick also suggested I ask about alternatives to wearing glasses?"

A quick few spells for each of them and an updated scroll of parchment for their individual files was the end of the matter. Harry apparently needed to eat better as he was still rather too thin, and Neville could do to lose a few pounds. Hermione was given a clean bill of health and then they all started to debate the best ways of keeping Harry safe with regards to his vision.

"I think that until you have finished growing, and only once you have reached your magical majority, a permanent fix should not be attempted. Everyone's eyesight can change as they get older and the potions and spells to correct the eyesight can only be done once, maybe twice in a witch or wizards lifetime. After that the procedure becomes ineffective. Perhaps instead of new glasses you might want to think about contact lenses. They have to be adjusted every six months, but unlike in the muggle world, they are fused to the eye," seeing the grimace she elaborated, "a mild medical sticking charm to keep them in place so they are not displaced by rubbing the eyes or water. There is an oculist in Hogsmeade that supplies them, they can also give you more information about them."

Harry nodded. He survived Quidditch by using sticking and water repelling charms. Contacts sounded like the next best thing to a permanent solution. Something told him that the tournament was going to be that much more arduous than Quidditch.

* * *

"And while I understand. If Ron or Collins all of a sudden has a string of bad luck, don't you think the Professors' might become a little suspicious?"

"What can they do?"

"Put us in detention?"

"Take points?"

Both twins sniggered at this.

"Both, as you well know, but I was rather thinking that it would just hinder us in the long run." At the blank faces Hermione continued. "Think about it. At the moment most of the school support us, even the Slytherins have been somewhat decent."

"Well, not complete pricks that they have been." Harry interjected.

"Something tells me Snape had a word or two,"

"…you know how much that man likes his words."

"Nevertheless," Hermione interrupted before the twins got going again, "if all of a sudden bad things happen to the Gryffindors, well, some might start to feel sympathetic."

She held up her hand to make sure she could finish.

"I'm not saying no pranks, but perhaps stagger them a little. Wait a while. And what about subtle pranks? I know how much you like the showy stuff, but if you want to make this year hell for those two, then you'll need to be able to work unencumbered by suspicion. Right?"

"Hermione Granger, helping us pranking?"

"Must be Ragnarok George."

"Common sense, more like." And with Neville's approval it was decided.

"So I guess you have some ideas?"

"Well I've sketched out some notes," Hermione shyly claimed while pushing a foot long parchment towards the Prank Masters.

Fred whistled while George shot a look of mock fear towards Hermione.

"And if you run out of ideas, you could always owl Moony."

That definitely got their attention.

"Moony?"

"As in Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Pa…"

"_Not_Wormtail." Harry sneered the name.

Knowing his anger shouldn't be directed at his friends, he got up and stared out the window. It seemed as if some of the students had taken up Hermione's Quidditch idea, from this distance he couldn't see if it was a house team or just a pick up game. Focusing on the students flying free on their brooms, Harry was pulled back to the events of five months ago. Long enough that it didn't make him completely enraged thinking about it, apparently the mere mention of the traitor would raise his ire. A long summer spent with the Dursleys' instead of his Godfather would do that.

"Wormtail, animagus form of Peter Pettigrew." Hermione explained to the twins, for Neville's benefit she added, "the man who betrayed the location of the Potters' to Voldemort."

"But I thought Sirius…"

"Sirius Black is Harry's Godfather."

Hermione stopped until Harry gave her permission to continue.

"He should know. All three of them should actually."

"The Potter's did a double bluff. They made sure certain people _knew_that Sirius was the secret keeper, so that they would focus all their attention on him, all the while it was actually Pettigrew who concealed the secret. And it would have worked," Harry finished the thought.

"If Wormtail wasn't a death eater."

Harry had decided. If they were in this together they should know everything, so before they asked the expected questions, he handed back to Hermione.

"Unfortunately, because everyone _knew_that Sirius was the secret keeper he was arrested and thrown in Azkaban."

"But surely it would come out at his trial?"

Harry couldn't help the snort that escaped. "Except for the fact that our corrupt Ministry decided that since _everyone_knew what happened, there was no need for a trial."

"Not everyone…"

"Not the whole Ministry. I know your Dad is a good guy. But a whole lot of people had to 'look the other way' for this to happen."

"Dumbledore?"

Harry kept his eyes focused on Neville. He knew that even the suggestion that the Headmaster wasn't as pure as Merlin was rather seditious.

"Yes." A quick glance to Hermione, as it wasn't just his secrets now.

"We've been collecting evidence."

"See _technically_ the Ministry didn't _convict_Sirius. He is a free man, except for the fact that Fudge has a kiss on sight order."

"We've been getting witness statements, and looking into the proper procedure that should have been followed. Just in case it's needed."

"Sooner or later Fudge will have to listen, or they'll be a new Minister, or Wormtail will be caught." Harry finished.

He wasn't sure what exactly he was hoping for but he needed to be doing something to ease the rankled feeling of injustice from overwhelming him.

"So if Sirius is innocent, why did he try and kill you?"

"He didn't," Harry checked the expressions on the twins faces. Ron had taken the news badly, but Scabbers was _his_pet.

"Wormtail's animagus form was that of a rat. You might know that the only thing they found of Pettigrew was a finger, so after that Halloween his form was that of a rat with a missing toe on its left front paw."

"Grey rat with missing toe?"

"Yep."

"Scabbers?"

"Yep."

"All this time?" Harry shrugged, it wasn't something he could understand.

"He faked his death, and had a safe and comfortable life. It was only the front page picture of your family, Scabbers included, that gave Sirius the impetus to break out. And no," Harry smiled, "I'm not going to tell you how."

Smiling at the disappointed expressions he continued, "But I will tell you Sirius is also known as Padfoot."

"Really? Then who's Moony?"

Harry and Hermione smirked.

"Well my father was Prongs, so Moony was the rather aptly named Remus Lupin."

"_Professor Lupin_?"


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

A.N: Next chapter folks.

###

The training with the twins was actually fun, and he was learning plenty at the same time. Hermione took a while to get over the fact that they barely touched on the theory, but their teaching style worked for Harry, and Neville as well it seemed. They met for two hours, three times a week with Saturday morning as a review.

They had covered the main spells used in fourth, fifth, sixth and much to the surprise of Hermione, even seventh year work. This included the summoning and banishment charms, that they then covered in Charms earning the three of them twenty points each for their quick mastery of both spells. The teachers did seem to be rather generous lately, though in actual fact, they did earn them.

Other basic spells such as those used for cutting, cleaning, blasting, lighting, repairing, etcetera that were well known in Wizarding households were covered. The one spell Harry was finding most useful was the 'Point Me' spell. Their new quarters were in a different section of the castle than Gryffindor so they were still getting used to the different routes to take, and the three still got lost on occasion when the stairs were being uncooperative. The twins with their experience of sneaking around never got lost, or at least they never admitted it.

They had also practised basic visualisation transfiguration, though that was much harder than casting the specifically crafted spells they had used before. Of course, it also seemed that much more useful. You just imagined what you wanted, rather than a specific spell for specific objects. Harry was still working on it. Sometimes he could transfigure the most perfect china tea set but of a size that only a pixie could use, other times the pattern only appeared on the side he was looking at.

The twins had been discussing how hard it was to start relearning how to cast non-verbally. After five years of practise, it was second nature to say the spells. Harry, Hermione and Neville had all decided that it was better to start now rather than wait for two years. Like transfiguration using only visualisation, they hadn't mastered it yet, though now they only needed to murmur the incantation for the spell to work. They were focusing now on regulating the power behind the spell while not relying on a change of volume.

The first task was at the end of November, two weeks away. Though still unaware of what it would entail Harry was quietly confident. With Hermione's help they had gone through the most useful spells for any situation they could think of, it would just be up to him to apply them.

Harry was glad to hear that traditionally the tasks were mini adventures rather than being marked on a particular spell, and it was the way you tackled the task that got you points. Honestly, when he first found himself in the tournament he wanted nothing more than to get out of it alive and relatively unharmed. Now though, he was rather hoping to do well, and if not win, then at least hold his own against the older students.

###

Since they had agreed, well Hermione had informed them and they all surrendered to her genius, that they couldn't prank Ron or Collins individually as it would just make it too obvious, the twins had to think of another way to get revenge. However that didn't mean they couldn't prank the whole school. And of course, if the prank affected certain students just that little bit more, well that's magic for you. Always doing the unexpected.

Their first prank had been aided by Dobby, who was delighted to assist in the merrymaking. One night in the Great Hall those who had sampled the chocolate gateaux, which was pretty much everyone, found themselves nearly weightless.

Not completely buoyant, there was much bouncing around and a few hastily cast cushioning charms before everyone became used to the sensation. A couple of muggleborns had started imitating the astronaut walk they had seen on television, much to the consternation of the purebloods.

Harry, the twins and Neville had all tasted the dish, but sensible Hermione had missed out. Publically it was because her parents didn't approve of too much sugar, but she had privately made known that _someone_sensible enough should remain unaffected.

Dumbledore had reinforced his insane image by bouncing himself off the ceiling again and again. But Harry was much more entertained by the two more reserved professors. McGonagall just stayed very still, watching the students to make sure they didn't have _too much_fun. Snape on the other hand acted as if it hadn't affected him, but Harry could see that the man's feet were securely underneath the table support allowing him freedom of movement without the additional problem of floating away.

###

The Polyjuice potion was slowly coming along. Neville was cultivating a few needed ingredients in the greenhouses, babying them from the cold turn that the weather had taken. September and the majority of October had been surprising warm, now though winter had definitely arrived and Neville was keen to bring the plants out of it flourishing.

This had an added benefit of involving Hermione and Harry in Herbology. As it was a group project, they shared the work as evenly as possible, but varying the jobs so that they all learned. After a few days of settling in, Neville had easily slid into Ron's place in the trio without them noticing. With his passion for plants, the other two were learning without really noticing, and Harry's Herbology mark in particular increased dramatically.

Two weeks on and things had settled down somewhat. The morale at Gryffindor was still at an all time low and the points gap was becoming even more noticeable. Though the three of them spent a majority of their time in their quarters with Fred and George, there were times where they had to study in the library or work on their potion. The shunning from the Gryffindors was still in force, which had the benefit of bringing them into contact with other students in their year.

Hermione was composing a history of the potion in its various incarnations. Harry was writing out the schedule and making it as efficient as possible, taking into account lessons and curfew, while noting the essential points like knotgrass harvested near the half moon. He planned to make a universal schedule with a timeline that could be adapted by any brewer and allowed for the availability of ingredients and brewing time. Neville was exploring the ways to optimise the ingredients for the potion.

They hoped to brew two potions between the three of them. One with regular ingredients sourced from the students' potions supply, and another using the optimised ingredients Neville had procured from the school greenhouses and his own supply from home. They hoped to have notable differences, such as extending the time of the change.

The students' potions laboratory was the place where the majority of the mingling occurred. Normally under the supervision of a seventh year that was too busy with their own potion to care about the conversations taking place. As long as nothing blew up, you were left alone, which actually meant that there was less explosions as the students were normally prepared and more relaxed than in class.

Even the Slytherin's were somewhat friendly, though Harry suspected that Malfoy had been threatened by Greengrass if he didn't behave. She and Davis were even talking to Hermione on occasion, normally about Runes or Arithmancy, which curtailed any response from the more avid supporters of blood purity. It had become apparent that whatever the bloodlines, Hermione was a genius in certain subjects.

Other partnerships were less thriving.

It had taken Dean Thomas an age to involve Crabbe in the work, while Parkinson had rather browbeaten Seamus into submission. For all of that, they were working together, somewhat anyway. However they all were waiting for the inevitable confrontation with Ron that just never seemed to appear. Bulstrode did however, and after a few enquires, it was learnt that Ron just wasn't showing up for the practical's they, or rather she, had planned. He scarcely completed any written work, and what he did was sloppy, incorrect and late.

Hermione was rather outraged, until a rather pleased Millicent assured her that her grade would not suffer. After that Hermione was seen assisting Millie during the difficult stages where two sets of hands were needed. That in itself, helped a huge amount to the intermingling of the houses.

After hearing about the more peaceful relations, the Hufflepuff's and Ravenclaws had joined in. The majority of them had potions that could be put under stasis to allow for more flexible working times, and after seeing that the working environment was that much more pleasant, they timed their brewing slots with the others of their year. That is not to say that all moved freely across bloodlines, there was still a reserve, but there wasn't any nastiness to the atmosphere.

The partnerships that they encountered most often were Hannah Abbot and Susan Bones, and Su Li and Padma Patil. For the first time in their school careers, Harry Hermione and Neville were fully involved in the social aspect of studying. For different reasons they had always missed out on this in the past and during the lulls in brewing, conversations started up. Harry often saw Susan encouraging Hannah in the direction of Neville, and he tried to help as often as he could.

Hermione especially, found a friend in the sister of her ex roommate. Harry had sometimes wondered about the lack of female friends that Hermione had. Himself and Ron hadn't reached the point where socialising with girls wasn't fun yet, and she always seemed busy with her work.

Padma was rather upfront about how Parvati was considered the 'pretty' twin by their parents, though how that worked with identical twins Harry didn't know. So she excelled in her studies so that at least she could be considered the intelligent one, something which her sister quite often monopolised on, excusing bad grades as lack of talent rather than lack application. This was something Hermione could relate to and a solid friendship was born. That Padma and Su Li were also friends with Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis brought all of them into contact with Slytherins that, thanks to Malfoy and house prejudice, they had always avoided before.

This ceasing of hostilities eventually caused a reaction from some of the more die hard Gryffindors, and not only those who had supported the exclusion. Ron was the main instigator though and made a point of heckling those who participated with no success. After about a week of this behaviour the twins were fed up, as were quite a few of the older students.

They had finalised The Plan. It wasn't strictly a plan. More like a few guidelines they all thought they would want to follow. Most of which had already been enacted. After a while Gryffindor House would really feel the absence of the five of them. The points boost to the other houses would make it very difficult to get anywhere in the house cup.  
It probably wasn't fair. Nowhere near it in fact, but they had all decided that payback directed at the entire Gryffindor house, while appropriate, wouldn't really affect _certain_people directly enough. The next day the three fourth years set about part two of their plan.

Ron suddenly found himself experiencing a string of bad luck. How much of this was coincidence, and how much was engineered by the twins would be hard to determine. One thing was certain, Ron Weasley's time at Hogwarts was soon becoming less than pleasant.

With Seamus and Dean also being drawn into the mixing between the houses and distancing themselves from Ron, he often found himself sleeping in and being late for classes, and what was worse, missing breakfast. And when he did arrive at class, he often found he had brought the wrong books or had forgotten his homework, even though he was sure he had checked his bag before leaving the tower. And if that wasn't bad enough, the castle seemed to be working against him, the stairs were always in the wrong position and only moved when he gave up and tried a different route.

Needless to say, the Professors' were less than amused. It seemed that without the controlling influence of Harry and Hermione, Ron Weasley was a disorganised mess. The missing influence of Hermione Granger to the boy's work was obvious. Before, while not excellent, his work before had at least been an Acceptable level. Now his essays were hardly legible and often were incomplete or off topic when they were given in at all. His behaviour, normally moderated by his friend was also becoming unmanageable, and a lot of his time was spent in detention with Filch. The trophy cabinet had never been so sparkling.

###

Harry was annoyed at being pulled from Potions. It was funny, a month ago he would have been delighted. But now Snape was being somewhat fair, and the Slytherins were no longer sabotaging his work, Potions was actually fun. They only had one lesson a week and Harry had been looking forward to testing his antidote.

Hermione, Neville and himself had been working together well on the Polyjuice potion which they had already started brewing, and they had started studying together for the actual lessons. There was something about Neville's presence, or perhaps Harry was just paying better attention, but he could now follow Hermione thought process as she explained the difficult parts.

Harry smiled back at Colin as he entered the room the third year had led him to. The Gryffindor had been a lot less stalker-ish ever since Harry had been excluded. Harry pushed the door open and stepped in to find himself the object of three distinct groups of people.

Fleur, Cedric and Krum were grouped in the centre of the room and Harry was reminded of the last time he had seen them in the same pose, the night his name had come out of the Goblet. Things had changed now, and Fleur had even apologised for her 'little boy' comment, but Harry couldn't help but be reminded, seeing them grouped together as they were, that they were that much older and more experienced.

To the left was a woman vividly dressed in a sparkling lime green outfit, which seemed to accentuate the over feathered quill hovering beside her. Harry identified her as Rita Skeeter, the tournament press liaison. The day after he had been announced as the fourth champion, Rita had been the writer of the front page article. Considering that the announcements had been at dinner, Rita must have worked through the night to get the article ready for the early morning paper, and perhaps that was why it only had the main facts, with only a few sly comments inserted here and there.

At the time, with his upcoming announcement, he had paid little attention to it. That his fellow students were obviously  
writing home about him wasn't exactly a revelation, though it was the first time his Hogwarts adventures had made its way to the front page. It had been rather amusing the next morning after news of his oath had made its way out of the castle, to see how much it had changed Rita's tone of reporting, almost as if the first article had never been written.

Next to Rita was a man shabbily dressed with a wizarding camera. Having too much experience with that piece of technology living in the dorms with the Creevey brothers, he quickly turned his attention to the final group. The three school heads, Crouch and Ollivander were waiting at the other end of the unused classroom. After a few seconds of staring, Harry was glad to hear Ollivander break the silence.

"Shall we start then?"

"But of course." Dumbledore seemed a little put out that the wand maker had spoken first, but the grandfatherly twinkle was still present. Before he could start speaking Crouch interrupted him.

"The Weighing of the Wand ceremony is the traditional first meeting of the tournament. Mr Ollivander will examine your wands to make sure they are in good working condition. It is also the first official press interview," Mr Crouch ended his brief speech with a nod to Rita and the photographer, who had moved forward with the champions to better hear what was said.

The next few minutes weren't terribly exciting, though Harry was interested in the art of making wands. It was obviously an exacting process, and Ollivander was the only British maker that Harry knew about. It was afterwards that the interesting part started.

Crouch had left as soon as possible, Harry was sure the man was ill, or under a lot of stress. His skin had an unhealthy grey shade that reminded Harry of porridge, and he twitched uncomfortably every time someone spoke.

Rita obviously wanted some juicy gossip to make her article that much more interesting, and her questions always seemed to insinuate something or leading off to other topics. Harry supposed that without the scandal of his entering himself illegally, she had to dig for something a little more. Of course there were also the additional trouble of having photos taken.

But it was as he was leaving Rita pounced.

"Harry, Harry, Harry…" It was her closeness that made him turn around, and the tone of her voice. Too late he realised that the others had already left, as the door magically shut before he could escape.

"Ms Skeeter." As much as he didn't like the woman, being impolite was just asking for trouble. He may have been dense about these things, but even he didn't need Hermione's help on this one.

"What would you say to a small interest piece, hmn? The boy behind the name… get your side of the story out there?"

"An intriguing proposal, but my name, as you well know, can be used for good, and bad. I wouldn't want to spill all my secrets only to find your editor made you put a more _sinister_side to the story now would I?" Harry knew the woman wouldn't get away with outright lies, but telling the whole truth seemed to be very rare thing in the Wizarding World.

"Now Harry, I'm sure we can come to some… arrangement."

The woman was desperate. Had she really just tried a seductive voice? Harry mentally rolled his eyes, before formulating his response.

"Perhaps an interview would be a good idea. But I wouldn't want to overshadow the three _true_champions. They should have all the glory, you understand."

"But of course." The sickly smile was back.

"And you would have to make sure the interview was portrayed honestly."

"You have my word." This was the first time Harry had seen an actual reporter underneath the outer mask. Maybe Rita was tired of puff pieces and digging up scandal.

"Then I think we can come to a mutually beneficial agreement." Who knew, an impartial reporter would be a good investment down the line.

"So what's first?"

Although then again, the predatory gleam in her eyes was rather disconcerting.

###

The first task was a week away when the twins rushed into the common room looking for Harry. Thrusting a letter into his hands they shushed the questions from Hermione and Neville.

Knowing from their pale faces it wasn't going to be good, he quickly skimmed the letter. It was from their elder brother Charlie, after skipping the paragraphs of outrage regarding Ron's behaviour regarding the exclusion, pleasure that the twins had backed him up, there was an additional note believing in Harry's integrity. Not finding anything remotely worrying just yet his eyes were drawn to the postscript.

_PS. I've been told that when we get to Hogwarts, that's me and my team, we can't tell anyone about the fact that each champion has to remove a golden egg from nesting mothers for the first task. We won't even be allowed contact with family members until the task is over. Just wanted to let you know, if you __somehow_ happen to find out I'm on school grounds, why I won't be visiting.

"Huh, nesting dragons. Well I didn't think it was going to be easy."

Handing off the letter to Hermione who had been trying to read over his shoulder, he sat down and stared into the fire.

Dragons. Huh, _nesting_dragons.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he realised he had gone into shock. Since there was no immediate danger, Harry let himself go. He thought he was rather entitled to go into shock thank you very much.

"He won't get into trouble will he?"

For a moment Harry thought Hermione was talking about him. Of course he was going to get into trouble. It was _dragons_.

"I doubt it,"

"...there were secrecy charms all over it,"

"…yeah, Bill taught us all some really obscure ones,"

"... anyway, he says he was warned that they couldn't tell anyone _once_they got to Hogwarts,"

"... we had to learn to be sneaky someone."

"…even born genius' need a little tutoring now and then."

Harry noted that they had switched back into twin-speak. He absently noted that they did that when they were stressed, or when they wanted to confuse or annoy people.

"How do dragon handlers subdue dragons?"

Well Neville actually had a point there. Turning to the twins who hopefully would be able to tell him, he saw that they were looking nervous. Well of course, if they knew how he could subdue a dragon they wouldn't have been worried in the first place.

"An overpowered stupefy."

Well that was simple enough they had already covered that spell in their weekly training.

Wait for it...

"It normally takes a group of handlers, about eight to ten to affect a full grown dragon."

Well there went that plan.

"What about potions?" That was from Hermione.

Harry interrupted the twins before they could answer, he didn't want to get his hopes up.

"I'm only allowed my wand."

"But what if you summon something during the task?"

Neville, again with a good point.

"That could work I suppose, I'd have to look at the rules."

Hermione snorted, "Or you could just summon the damn egg."

It was a flippant unprocessed thought. And from Hermione it was unheard of.

There was a pause where everyone considered it.

"Forget it, they'll have put anti-summoning charms on it. Summoning the egg would be the most logical thing to do, they'll have thought of it."

"When are wizards _ever_logical?"

This was from Harry to Hermione. It was one of their shared frustrations. Because magic broke the laws of physics every day, logic and common sense was often lacking in the magical world.

"So first things first, I'll summon the egg. Plan B?"

"Summon your broom?"

"You want me to out fly a dragon?"

"Nesting mothers don't like leaving their eggs,"

"…perhaps you could distract it and then fly around it?"

"Flying would beat running around on foot."

"You'll be much quicker too."

Harry was nodding; most of what was being said made a lot of sense. Hermione as was her wont was jotting everything down.

"What about using your cloak?"

Harry winced. As much as it might help, he could see the charred remains in his head. Shaking his head, that was a last resort.

"The Disillusionment Charm?"

Neville was really on a roll.

"You think I can learn it in time?"

"Well you always perform better with pressure."

Hermione was spending way too much time with the twins if she thought that was funny, but she did have a point. He remembered learning the Patronus charm. The threat of dementors really pushed him into learning faster.

"The Disillusionment Charm, followed by a distraction, then Summoning Charm. Egg, broom, whatever."

It had dawned on him that he needed a distraction when he summoned the egg, to stop him from being eaten and/or incinerated in the intervening seconds. If he was to learn the Disillusionment Charm in a week, he didn't have time to worry about learning any new transfiguration or charms to distract the dragon. And the reminder of third year had given him an idea.

"So the Disillusionment Charm..." He said looking to Hermione.

"Right, the Disillusionment Charm is a form of camouflage..."

This will work, Harry said to himself. This will work. It had become his new mantra, and he would be saying it a lot over the next couple of days.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

A.N.: I needed something to end this chapter with. And so Hermione and Harry took charge and almost doubled the chapter length :)

###

The twenty fourth of November dawned with little fanfare. It wasn't raining, though unlike Quidditch, Harry thought perhaps a little rain would be welcome. He knew it wouldn't cancel the task, but it might make him a little less flammable.

Sitting at the end of the Hufflepuff table with his friends surrounding him, he kept his head down and robotically ate his breakfast. The jeering from the Slytherins was actually toned down somewhat, though a few Gryffindors had decided to take their place. In fact House rivalry was at an all time low. That didn't mean that the rest of the Hufflepuffs weren't cheering Cedric on, but they were at least being polite about it.

McGonagall looked as peaked as he felt as she led him and Cedric down to the Champions' tent. The spectator stands blocked what view he might have been able to see of the arena. Looking over at the older Champions, Harry felt somewhat better that they all showed signs of fear. He had passed a note to Cedric detailing what he knew about the first task. To be honest, it wasn't much, just that it involved nesting dragons. As much as he wanted to do well he couldn't _not_tell his fellow champion. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't, and Cedric got hurt.

Fleur and Viktor were another thing all together. He had tried to get close enough, but in the days leading up to the task, they were constantly flanked by students from their own school. Getting near enough to pass on the information without telling everyone else at the same time was impossible. Hermione had comforted him with the probability that they already knew, and it looked like she was right.

Bagman was much too happy Harry thought. Even if they weren't to know what was coming, being that upbeat was just annoying. Harry's temper was probably just a little sour right then as Potter luck struck again, and as the youngest champion, he was to face the most vicious dragon. It made sense, in a cynical twisted sort of way.

Knowing that his mood was not helping, Harry tried a few of the breathing exercises he normally used before a match. Clearing his head and calming himself down, he tried to block the commentary that could clearly be heard from the arena, punctuated by the crowd's screams, and eventual cheers.

Well all three had completed it, some took longer than others, and from what he had heard all of them had needed some medical attention.

This will work, he murmured again.

This has to work.

###

Once his name was announced, Harry peered around the corner of the entrance to get an idea of the layout. The time didn't start until he actually stepped into the arena, which was when he was first allowed to start casting.

He had planned to take his time and assess, but seeing the dragon distracted by the crowd and looking away from him, he took one step forward. Quickly casting the Disillusionment Charm on himself, he felt the uncomfortable impression of liquid running down his neck. Ignoring the sensation that told him he had successfully concealed himself, he brought up the feeling of elation of getting well away from the dragon and willed Prongs to appear.

The murmuring of the crowd, who had seen him enter only to disappear, grew suddenly as a silvery stag shot forward, darting around the side of the dragon Prongs charged back and forth, making a big show of tossing his antlers boldly and strutting.

It was an errant thought, but obviously Prongs knew what he had been conjured for. The stag hadn't chased off looking for dementors, which made Harry think that the shield charm was much more tied to the caster and their needs then a normal spell would be. It was one thing they hadn't been able to test completely, but Hermione had assured him that if he focused on his need it would work. The patronus _was_ a protection spell, and Harry _did_need protection from the dragon.

Knowing from experience he would have about five seconds once he stopped powering the patronus, he sighted down his wand to a glimmering gold just visible, nestled among the black eggs that the Norwegian Ridgeback was so desperately guarding.

A deep breath, and then a quiet "Accio golden egg".

His wand was already moving to summon his broom when the egg soared towards him, grabbing it under one arm Harry darted back around the entrance before the crowd's reaction alerted a very testy dragon to his presence.

Making his way to the medical tent, he absently cancelled the Disillusionment Charm in front of Madame Pomfrey, who after recovering from her shock, dragged him to a bed and began waving her wand over him. He tried to tell her that he was fine, but she wouldn't be dissuaded. Giving up on arguing with her he started down at the egg he had yet to let go of.

Thank Merlin for logic, he thought. Thank Merlin for Hermione, Neville and the twins.

###

The judges had given him full marks.

Some rather reluctantly. But he had used a fourth year spell to retrieve the egg, a seventh year spell to keep himself safe, and a Auror level spell to distract the dragon. All of which from start to finish took less than a minute. And in doing so he remained unharmed, as did the dragon and her eggs. So he was currently leading on points.

Not that the last two, were something he had really considered. But in hindsight and far away from her, he felt he could rather empathise with the dragon, she was only doing what she had to, to protect her young.

After the task, once allowed to leave by Madame Pomfrey, Cedric had invited Harry and friends to join in the Hufflepuff celebration. Though it was a nice gesture, it wasn't something he would've enjoyed. Instead he found himself drinking Butterbeer in the common room while watching the twins play at chess, which was entertaining to watch as they were so used to working together, that seeing them play against each other was enlightening.

It was after Harry had ensconced himself in their common room that he saw any sign of the interview he had granted Rita. She had obviously waited to use it on that particular day, to garner interest in the first task.

The day after the Weighing of the Wand ceremony, there had been the official article introducing the champions. All the names and facts were correct and it seemed as if Rita had made a point to be impartial while still showing her flair for the dramatic. Harry was actually curious at that point, as to what the interview would finally be like.

In truth it was a fair piece, that provided all the facts, including his oath of innocence of entering the tournament, and Rita even praised his shy behaviour.

_'It is refreshing to see, that even though young Mr Potter is famous he still has the humility to acknowledge his competitors as the rightful champions. Time will only tell whether Mr Potter will fare as well in the tournament as his fellow Champions.'_

Well he had finished first, that definitely would give Rita something to write about.

Harry's popularity had soared in the days following, and he was becoming rather cynical about his peers. He liked them much better when they silently supported him regardless of the exclusion, now all the clamouring for his attention was rather off putting, so he was putting his new found skill at the Disillusionment Charm to good use when alone and likely to get mobbed. When with the others he was reminded of his second year with the twins parting the crowd with comments about Slytherin's heir. Now they were just as likely to part the students by testing a few of their joke products.

He had yet to solve the clue in the egg. After making their way back to their common room and listening to the horrible screeching noise that was apparently meant to inform him of what the second task would involve, they unanimously decided to leave it until the next weekend. It could wait as the second task wasn't until February and they all wanted to relax for a little while. Though that relaxation only lasted a couple of days.

###

"Partner? For what?"

"Dancing, Mr. Potter. What else would you do at a Ball? The champions and their partners open the ball with the first dance."

"Dancing?"

"Yes, dancing."

McGonagall looked slightly exasperated with him. Understandable really, he was being a bit slow, but dancing?

"I thought to give you warning before the announcement tomorrow, just in case there was someone special you wanted to ask?"

Was McGonagall digging for gossip? Harry just nodded, rendered mute at the announcement. He did have someone in mind, but the real question was would she say yes?

"If you or your partner need any help, just let me know. I'll be giving instruction to the rest of... to Gryffindor House and thought I should offer the same to you."

###

"Well that's the end of the scheduled points for this meeting. Before we all leave, are there any student issues that need to be addressed?"

Dumbledore was eyeing them over his glasses again. And his eyes were twinkling. The man was high on Christmas and whatever he laced his lemon drops with. It rather irritated the Potions Master. He wasn't sociable at the best of times, and the holiday period was definitely not the best of times.

"What about the excluded students? When will we have the pleasure of them rejoining the lions?" Dumbledore obviously didn't have anything better to do.

"They are doing fine." All eyes turned to Flitwick. "I've been speaking to them once a week after their Charms class. They all seem in good spirits, and after some adjusting they seem to be thriving. Mr. Potter and Mr. Longbottom's marks have increased dramatically, so have the Mr. Weasleys'. As for Miss Granger, her marks are as high as ever, though she does seem less worried than usual."

The other teachers were nodding in agreement.

"As for the effect on the school as a whole, I think it has actually improved house relations somewhat." Added Sinistra, as a non head of house she was much more impartial. There were more nods in agreement.

"And the added points have helped that along somewhat. Sorry Minerva." This was said with an apologetic smile to her colleague.

McGonagall just waved it away.

"It was their own fault." Looking around at the assembled staff she continued, "Gryffindor is rather quiet these days, aside from occasional outbursts from the usual suspects. Most students spend their time with members of the other houses. It seems that what happened rather broke their spirit."

"Speaking of outbursts, the youngest Mr. Weasley's grades have dropped significantly. I have the fourth years working on group projects and he seems to be entirely absent. Even his own work has deteriorated; something that I wasn't sure was possible."

McGonagall, who normally would be defending her student from Snape just agreed.

"I've tried to have words with him. Even threatening to inform his mother results in a few half hearted attempts before he slides back down."

"Perchance this is just a small blip. I understand that Mr. Weasley was never a studious student, but losing his friends must have had a bigger impact on him than normal. Perhaps when they make up, Mr. Weasley's grades will see an improvement." Dumbledore reasoned, popping a lemon drop into his mouth.

The staff members stared at the Headmaster.

"Albus, I really doubt that their friendship will ever recover. And it's getting to the point that if his grades don't improve next term, he won't be able to progress to fifth year. And honestly. Without Miss Granger's tutoring, I don't think he would have done half so well in the preceding years."

"You know what youngsters are like Minerva. I'm sure they'll make up soon, especially when the exclusion is over." McGonagall snorted at that.

"It will never be over." The direct statement drew the wandering attention of staff members back to Snape's original question.

Flitwick explained, "What Minerva means is that in their haste to confirm the proclamation, Collins and Co. forgot to add an end date. The only way the exclusion can end now, is if Mr. Potter and the others fulfil the conditions. And that is something that I have been informed will never happen."

"Well I'm sure Harry and the others will want to rejoin Gryffindor soon, and a public announcement won't be hard if everyone knows that he just fulfilling the conditions."

It was obvious Dumbledore had his own agenda here.

"And how will you justify academic probation for three of the top students in their year, while taking no action against a student who is in danger of failing out?" There no answer to that. "If there is nothing else Headmaster, I need to write to Molly Weasley and inform her of the situation."

When no objection was raised the staff members rose and filed out, leaving Dumbledore sucking on his sweet and pondering how everything had gone so wrong in so short a space of time.

###

Life at Hogwarts had returned to what was considered normal, though Harry was rather sick of the clamouring attention from people who wouldn't even look at him the week before. It seemed as if the Gryffindors had finally realised just what they had done. The champion with top marks used to belong to their own house, and yet they couldn't celebrate that fact, Ron in particular seemed rather miffed he couldn't bask in the reflected glory.

Harry had heard rumours of Collins, desperate to regain some standing with his house trying to 'sneak' into Hogsmeade to procure Butterbeer and snacks. Harry though it amusing for a number of reasons. That he had tried to go out the front gate was one of them, the other was that the rest of the house truly believed Fred and George actually got their supplies from Hogsmeade. How the students expected them to finish a match, sneak to the village and be back before everyone else had made their way to the common room, Harry didn't know.

Collins had lost his Prefect position and Hogsmeade privileges. It was strange though, how Filch just _happened_to be in the area at the time. Of course, letting Dobby watch the map on his breaks probably had nothing to do with it. Harry smirked. Never cross a house elf, it just wasn't worth it.

Apparently, Gryffindor tower had been rather the worse for wear for the last couple of weeks. Hardly any hot water, lack of loo roll and an awful sewage stench had made the inhabitants rather dishevelled and bad-tempered. No wonder Collins was so desperate for a party, the atmosphere must be truly dreadful.

Life for the rest of the students was much better. As most of the Gryffindors were not welcome amongst the other houses it had created a weird shift in the school dynamics. The Gryffindors were usually the popular leaders. But with the reduction in their popularity, another house had become the leaders. Surprisingly it had been the Hufflepuffs. Their easy going nature had brought all different types of people together, and the introduction of Slytherins, who in the past were distrusted, was actually settling to the group.

Each house had it's strengths and weakness', and with a reduction in tension, there was a surprising amount of mingling going on. For example, Lavender Brown had started dating Blaise Zabini. They had started talking during their potions project, and had found they liked each other. Neville and Hannah were going to the Ball 'just as friends', though Harry was sure they would soon become more.

The twins had decided to go stag, as had Alicia, Angelina and Katie. And Harry would bet the two groups would be sharing a table.

###

Harry had had a head start on getting a date, but even he had to wait until after dinner that day. Feeling as if he was facing all four dragons at once, he had waited until Hermione had settled down for some 'light reading' before bedtime, before he made his move. Neville had been pre-warned and had diverted the twins with plans of further tormenting Collins and their brother.

It was with rather a nervous stomach that Harry knocked on her door. At her 'enter' he walked forward enough to be 'in', but close enough to the door to be able to beat a hasty retreat if things went wrong.

Hermione was lying on her bed, propped up on her elbows and perusing a thick tome with her bare legs swaying in the air. Scotland, even in summer, is a rather cold and windy place. Harry had never seen so much bare skin, especially on his rather proper best friend.

And what lovely skin it was.

His name being called drew him from his contemplations of whether the vest top and short shorts she was wearing could actually be considered pyjamas.

"Harry what's wrong? Has something happened?" He found Hermione walking towards him, looking at him concerned. The sight of such an outfit in motion rather short circuited his adolescent brain.

"Well I do have a problem." That was an understatement, one with a double meaning. Wincing he allowed her to draw him to her bed and sit.

Though they had done this many times in the boys dorm in Gryffindor tower. Somehow this seemed that much more intimate.

"Can I help?"

Harry snorted, sure she could. But it was whether she wanted too or not. "Um, McGonagall. She held me back after class to tell me something."

"And that something is? We'll get through it together Harry, whatever it is, has the second task been changed?"

"Um, no. But there is a thing during the holidays. A Ball. And I need to dance. And a date."

"Well that seems reasonable. Dancing without a date would look rather funny wouldn't it?"

Leave it to Hermione to try and make him feel better.

He liked her. She was his best friend and he knew she was pretty. But, he wasn't sure if he _liked_ her, liked her. There was something, but what if it was just a part of growing up? What if she didn't feel the same? What if she _did_, but then it ended badly? He didn't want to lose her as a friend.

"I don't know how to dance!" Not the most pressing problem. But it was up there with the big ones.

"Well I can teach you. I'll have to check what sort of dances they'll have. It can't be too different from Muggle dances can it?"

"You dance?" Before he could give offence he added, "sorry I didn't mean that the way it sounded."

"My parents wanted me to interact more with my peers. Thought dancing would be the way to do it. And, well, I was never any good at sports so I stuck with it. Mostly ballroom and ballet, though I was able to quit once I came to Hogwarts." Hermione smiled deprecatingly, "I'm not very good, and it was a relief to stop, but sometimes I miss it."

Harry nodded. He actually missed cooking, funnily enough. It was a productive and soothing way for him to spend time just going through the motions. He had actually though Potions would be the same, but Snape quickly made sure the subject was the most stressful and disliked subject on his schedule.

"Professor McGonagall said she would give me lessons. If I wanted."

"That's great."

This was it. He had to ask her. "Will you go with me?"

"Sure, I'd love to learn the Wizarding dances."

"No, I …uh… that's not what I meant. Well it was, but… will you go with me to the ball?"

Hermione speechless. There was something you didn't see everyday.

"Harry, I…"

"Someone's already asked you?"

"No," Hermione was going to say something else but Harry interrupted her.

"So you were hoping someone else would ask you?"

"No!" Her shout stopped his ramblings. "When you mean go together. Do you mean as friends, or as… um."

Hermione was the one looking away now. Harry realised that she was just as nervous as he was. Somehow that made things all the more easier.

"Hermione," he took her hand in his and waited until she had made eye contact. Focusing on her eyes, he reminded himself who he was talking to. This was _Hermione_. Even if he did make a prat of himself, she would help him recover. That was just who she was.

"I like you. You're my best friend, and I hope you always will be. I have… other feelings. You're smart and funny and pretty, but you're my friend first. With my life, its crazy, but you're the one person who is always there. So I'd like you to be my date to the ball." There he had said it. Date. "As friends, and maybe something more, later maybe?"

"I'd like that." Her smile had told him enough, but he was glad she actually said the words.

"You do know I'll be hopeless, right? With the whole dancing and date thing." He had to let her know beforehand. He wanted to give her an out.

"You'll be fine."

"And you'll tell me if I'm supposed to do stuff?" He really didn't want to muck things up. A memory floated across his subconscious, frowning he asked, "Should I get you flowers? I remember something about flowers."

"A corsage? Well it's traditional for proms in the Muggle world. I'd have to ask Professor McGonagall what's appropriate." Hermione titled her head, and Harry was glad to see the familiar sight of her planning research.

"Do you have dress robes?"

"Mrs Weasley picked them out. They look like a black tuxedo version of robes. Are they okay?"

"Fine, I'm sure. Mrs Weasley knows what would be appropriate, and with black I can wear any colour."

"Don't you have yours already?"

"No, I didn't get the chance to go shopping because of the Quidditch World Cup." Harry was confused, neither did he, but Hermione took pity on him.

"It's different for girls. The style, cut, colour and accessories." Harry was slightly bemused, obviously there were huge differences between males and females that he had yet to discover.

"So when will you be able to get them?"

"Hogsmeade I suppose, or I could ask my parents to send a dress by owl. I''ll have to find out what would be suitable."

"Maybe you could ask Daphne? You're friends right?"

"Yes. Does that bother you?"

Harry smiled, he rather liked the Slytherin. "No, she's nice. But I just thought, you had that conversation with her, about how Muggleborns aren't taught the proper traditions, so unknowingly give offense, and that if the Purebloods minded so much they should try and do something constructive about it."

"You were listening?"

"It was interesting," Harry shrugged, "I'm not sure I understood all of it, but I do agree with you. I'm sure she would be able to give you some advice if you wanted it." Harry was rather unsure about giving fashion advice to anyone, let alone a girl.

"It's a great idea!" Giving him a kiss on the check she returned her book amongst the numerous others adorning her shelves. Harry was struck motionless at the unconscious action, and the view of such long legs stretching on tip toes as she put the book away.

Shaking himself, he was pleased that he was coherent enough to answer her next question.

"When will the ball be announced?"

"Tomorrow I think."

Hermione looked shy again.

"Should I keep it a secret? Us going together I mean."

"Only if you want to." Harry shrugged distracted by her biting her lip. _Was_there a right answer to that question?

"Well, I might tell some people. Daphne and Tracy maybe…"

"That's fine. Oh, um, Neville knows. That I was going to ask you, that is. Can I tell him? And the twins? You know they won't leave either of us alone otherwise." Hermione actually laughed.

"Sure, you're probably right."

There was silence.

During the conversation Harry had joined her by her desk. He knew he should say goodnight and leave, but should he say something first? Hermione, ever the smart one, seemed to sense his hesitation. One small step forward, a quick kiss on his check and a quiet "Goodnight, sweet dreams," settled it.

Harry was sure sweet dreams might be an understatement.

###


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

###

It was New Years Eve and the three Hogwarts students were sitting around their common room fire, sipping Butterbeer and enjoying the quiet after the hectic holidays. If Harry and Hermione were sitting that much closer than usual then nobody mentioned it, no one mentioned their intertwined hands either.

The absence of Ron from the Ball was nice, though the twins weren't telling why he was summoned home, and all in all the holiday had gone well, aside from the fact that they hadn't solved the 'Egg riddle'. Even Skeeter had behaved, her article over the holiday was a fluff piece which of course generated large audiences as it involved Harry and his love life. And just today Professor Flitwick had asked them a question that sent their heads spinning, Hermione especially was thinking hard on the subject instead of offering an immediate yes.

"It's nice in the abstract, but what if we take the exams and do well, but not _really_well."

"OWLs just let you progress on to NEWTs, as long as you get a grade that allows you to continue with NEWTs, the OWL grade doesn't matter. And for careers, there are no OWL requirements, just NEWTs." Neville informed the other two who had been under the impression that OWLs were as important as GCSEs.

"Well as much as I'd love to, I'd only want to if both of you are with me. The twins will be leaving next year and it'll just be the three of us. It would be awfully lonely to be in sixth year classes alone." The other two nodded, surprised that Hermione would think that being in the same class was more important than getting ahead in her studies.

"I think that we'd all like to do it. But is it actually possible?"

Harry shrugged, "It'd be nice. And Professor Flitwick did say that we can sign up for the exams, but can postpone them if need be. What do you think Hermione?"

"I want to do it. Not only will it get us out of here a year early, we won't be in the same year as Ron, which will be great for us and really annoy him." Harry and Neville laughed.

"So it's decided?" Hermione and Neville nodded.

"Shall we start on a schedule?" He looked at Hermione when he said this, her love of schedules was well known, and now that they were closer he found it rather endearing.

They decided on definitely taking the five core subjects that were needed for most careers and were also the subjects they definitely wanted to take for NEWTs. These were Transfiguration, Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Herbology and Potions and would need the most studying for, as both the written and practical were known to be hard.

History and Astronomy were subjects that they felt they could attempt but not stress about if they did poorly, though Hermione took some persuading to acknowledge that. For Harry and Neville this also included their extra subjects of Care of Magical Creatures and Divination. Hermione was adamant though, that Arithmancy and Ancient Runes were essential.

After reviewing past papers she had also talked Harry into taking the Arithmancy and Muggle Studies exam. Arithmancy was just maths applied to Magic and he had taken an interest over the past two years, when Ron wasn't around anyway. The Muggle Studies exam was something a five year old muggle child could get an Outstanding in and it was an easy OWL. Neville was rather happy concentrating on just the five core subjects. If he succeeded he would still do better than he previously thought he could, even with the additional year.

###

The rest of January was taken up by studying and trying to figure out the riddle that the Egg posed. It wasn't until Harry spotted Dobby collecting the laundry that Harry had a brain wave. Wizards always dismissed house elves as being beneath their notice, and Harry was rather ashamed of himself when he realised that as much as he appreciated their efforts, he too had dismissed their presence. Because house elves were everywhere. True, most kept themselves invisible, but their work could be seen everyday, from the arrival of meals to the laundry or general tidying of the Common Rooms. If anything was happening at Hogwarts the house elves would know about it.

A quick conversation with Dobby and Harry knew that there were preparations for spectator stands to be built around the Black Lake. Dobby, as an employee of Hogwarts couldn't outright help Harry, but he could tell him about things not directly connected to the tasks. Thanking Dobby, he wondered at the Slytherin nature of the elf, Harry didn't know what the next task involved, but with the stands being constructed on the banks of the Black Lake, Harry was pretty sure that he would be swimming sometime soon. Which of course introduced an additional problem. He didn't know how to swim.

Figuring out the song didn't take much brain power. Well, Hermione's brain power that is. It took all of a minute before Hermione had grasped on the screeching as Mermish. A quick head dunk in an overfull sink and Harry had the riddle memorised.

Harry rather hoped that the thing he would miss the most was his Firebolt or Cloak, maybe his photo album, though they had better put waterproofing charms on it first. It was an idle thought, he knew it wouldn't be that simple. That they would put _people_in the lake seemed rather extreme, but that was the Wizarding World.

Harry had asked Hermione to just refuse to take part, and if Neville, Fred and George did too, then there was no one that could be taken matching the description 'sorely missed'.

Hermione however had just hit him over the back of his head and told him that as long as she was assured she would be safe, she would agree. He would just have to get to her quickly. Whoever thought that having a task in the Black Lake in February was a good idea, needed to get their head examined. That it was probably Dumbledore just made his point.

Harry had been summoned to Dumbledore's office after the holidays had finished. Unsure as to why, and not in a mood to humour him, Harry had gone to Flitwick instead. The diminutive professor was rather shocked that he also wasn't informed that one of his students needed to see the Headmaster and they had both attended the meeting.

Dumbledore had tried to dismiss the Ravenclaw Head of House, but Flitwick remained firm. If it was school business than he should be in attendance. If it was tournament business, the other contestants and members of staff involved should be there.

Dumbledore was obviously unused to being thwarted in his plans. He offered platitudes about forgiveness and patience. He also mentioned that it was not appropriate for students to talk to the press. Harry wasn't stupid. Ron was in trouble because of his school work, Dumbledore wanted Harry back in Gryffindor, and most of all didn't want Harry talking to Skeeter.

###

Their first Polyjuice potion had been brewed successfully, much to the surprise of some of their peers not knowledgeable about Harry's and Hermione's escapades during their second year. After Snape had checked the potion and declared it safe, Neville had taken a dose. Mostly because if anything went wrong, à la Cat!Hermione, Hermione was their best bet to remedy it, and Harry couldn't risk not being able to participate in the Yule Ball.

The potion had lasted the prescribed sixty minutes. Well sixty minutes thirty two seconds. That completed and with a guaranteed an Exceeds Expectations the three moved on to brewing their second potion. Now that they were familiarised with the steps, it became much easier, and the three had taken to completing their homework in the Student Potions Lab while waiting until they could move on to the next step. At least that way, those who encountered them were there to work and not a group of giggling girls intent on getting Harry's notice. Skeeter may have been tame in her article, but it seemed to have started an influx of girls wanting to snag the Boy Who lived as their boyfriend, even disregarding Hermione's presence.

Most of the other students had had some success with their potions. Draco and Daphne had of course completed their potion within a few weeks, and received an Outstanding. Harry wasn't sure whether that was just to do with their brewing skills or house affiliation, though their potion had worked, giving both of them green and silver hair for a day.

None of them had seen Ron during their brewing sessions, not even during the last week when they expected him to try and rush a terms worth of work into a few hours. Bulstrode however had completed her potion and received an Exceeds Expectations. Hermione winced when Ron's grade was brought up. Even now, with him being a prat, she couldn't quite dismiss such non existent work ethic.

The second potion had been planned so it finished a week before the Second Task, that way Harry had a few days break to drill the plan over and over and again. The three of them had achieved a grudging Outstanding from Snape once they had demonstrated a change of seventy two minutes three seconds during their double period.

###

The wind was rather brisk the morning of the Second Task. Harry hadn't seen Hermione since she was summoned last night. Since she hadn't returned, he was rather hopeful that she had grilled them thoroughly enough to allow herself to be placed under the water. Unless of course they had just stunned first before she could say anything. To be honest he wouldn't put it past them, and wasn't that a great thought.

Harry looked out at the calm surface of the lake. The meagre light provided from the winter sun gave the surface of the water a mirror blackness, oddly apt considering the lakes name.

Harry kept his face forward and ignored the chattering crowd in the stand behind him. The platform on which he was standing held the judges, the other contestants and their close friends. Harry had Neville and the twins cheering him on.

Instead of focusing on the noise, Harry focused on the spells he had practised. Hermione had drilled him over and over again. There had even been an embarrassing practise session in the bath tub in the boys bathroom, just to make sure.

Harry took a deep breath and made sure his robe was securely fastened. Underneath he had lightweight trousers and long sleeved tee shirt. Both of which had been layered in waterproofing and warming charms. It rather amused him that in this biting cold the other three contestants had chosen swimwear. He supposed if he was planning on actually swimming he might have done the same. Though something told him he wouldn't have gotten the same reaction as the other three contestants.

He had filled out some, even had a little muscle from Quidditch, but he thought he would be the little boy of the group if he had to stand next to Cedric, let alone Krum. Fleur disrobing had caused quite a stir, but Harry had kept his eyes forward, just in case. This would be the worst time to let his hormones distract him.

The whistle shrilled into the suddenly quiet air and Harry forced himself to stay still while the other three dived in. Only when the other three had disappeared into the water did Harry pull his wand and 'Accio' his broom from where it was hidden at the side of the Quidditch pitch. While the broom was zooming towards him, much to the amusement of the crowd and judges, Harry cast a bubble head charm.

Mounting his broom, Harry sped off to the centre of the lake while casting the 'Point Me' spell. Harry flew his broom until his toes were skimming the surface and his wand pointed straight down. Making sure the Bubblehead Charm was still functioning, Harry rolled himself into the water. Once he was sure his broom would remain hovering until he returned, Harry cast 'Duro' on his robes turning them into stone, and allowed himself to quickly sink under the surface.

His robes gave him sufficient momentum that he soon reached the Merpeople village. As he neared the bottom, he cast a 'Finite' on his robes. Quickly moving towards the hostages Harry saw they had been tied to posts in the centre of the buildings. Surrounded by Merpeople wielding wicked looking spears Harry kept one eye on them while he swam around Hermione and carefully cast a 'Diffindo' at the ropes that secured her to the post. Grabbing her arm, he pulled her close against him. Kicking his legs, they started to rise, and once he was sufficiently high enough, he cast an over powered 'Depulso' at the lake bottom. The force of the banishing charm pushed them up much more quickly than just swimming would have.

Rising actually took longer than his descent. He knew it had only been a few minutes since the task had started, no matter how slow it had felt, and he took heart that all three other hostages were still there with no sign of the other contestants.

Breaking the surface, Harry was glad to see his broom where he had left it, though he had to swim a little to get to it. Luckily, once her head had surfaced, Hermione woke from her spell induced sleep and was able to swim herself over to the waiting broom. Removing his sodden robes helped him mount the broom, pulling Hermione up was rather harder and required careful handling of the broom so he didn't dislocate her shoulder or plunge the broom into the water. The Firebolt was waterproof, and he had tested it in some really bad rain, but Harry didn't want to see what would happen if he fully submerged it.

Finally Hermione was seated side saddle, arms around his neck as he sped towards to cheering crowds. Landing on the platform with slightly less grace than he was used to on account of trying to balance Hermione and set down at the same time, Neville moved forward to help.

Harry dismounted once Hermione was steady on her own two feet, she wasn't the best flyer, and gave his Firebolt over to the twins. One of which draped a warm towel over him and the other started drying off his broom. A quick drying charm and both Harry and Hermione were damp but not sodden. Another application of warming charms and they all settled down on the beanbags the twins had sourced from somewhere.

A call to Dobby resulted in cups of hot soup being provided for Harry and his friends. An additional request found the rest of the crowd treated to hot drinks by the Hogwarts house elves. It was silly the things people forgot to plan for, and even the judges looked thankful for the chance to keep warm.

Sitting there warm and comfortable, sipping hot tomato soup, Harry realised how boring the task must be for the onlookers. For him it had been a frantic paced ten minutes, for them it had meant staring at an almost undisturbed lake surface. And it looked like that was the way it was to continue.

After a clean bill of health from Madame Pomfrey, who gave an approving nod to the bean bags, blankets and soup, Harry had asked permission to leave. Warming charms only did so much and neither Hermione nor himself were particularly dry. But apparently they had to stick around until the last champion had surfaced.

While they were waiting Hermione had explained what had happened after she had been summoned to the Headmasters office.

"All the judges were there. They explained what was the second task was, and asked for us to be used as the thing each champion would miss most. All of them said yes, Fleur's sister was a little scared but after I got through with the questions I had she seemed much more confident."

"Dare I ask what your questions were?"

"Oh you know. What spell will be place on us? How and when would it end? How long would we be under? What stopped us from getting hyperthermia? Things like that."

"And the answers?"

"Well first they didn't want to tell me. Headmaster Karkaroff seemed to think I would say no after I had heard everything and then go and tell you everything I had learned."

Harry snorted. "I didn't even think of that."

"Well after I said that I had promised to agree only if I was satisfied I would be safe, well Dumbledore showed me the spell and told me it would only break once above water again, and that after two hours, the Merpeople would bring up any hostage who wasn't rescued. It puts the person under enchanted sleep so they are protected from the cold, and lack of air."

Harry could see she had more to say, "That's it?"

"Oh no, then I asked about what happened if a champion panicked and tried to cast a bubblehead charm on their hostage, breaking the enchantment, or maybe accidentally expose the hostage when rescuing them, or what would happen if the hostage and champion were attacked on the way back. What safeguards were in place, etc…"

"And?"

"Well apparently it's up to the individual champions to protect their hostages," Hermione snorted. "But there are Merpeople stationed around the lake and have been told they can step in if either are in too much danger."

"And the definition of _too_much danger is?"

"Loss of life, avoidable loss of limb. The usual apparently."

Harry really wanted to discuss that further but there was a commotion at the platform edge. Fleur Delacour was being helped by a Merperson to climb onto the platform. Before her Headmistress and friends had rushed to her side Harry had seen the cuts and bruises she sported. It seemed as if she had had a run in with the less friendly denizens of the lake.

Cedric came in third, a minute after the hour was up. His date to the ball Cho Chang, his hostage. Krum came in last, a few minutes later and the look on his face was almost a pout when he realised what Harry had done. The Firebolt was propped up next to him, now thoroughly dried and polished. It wasn't needed, but Harry and the others had gotten bored of waiting at the half way mark. Another word to Dobby and Harry had his broom polishing kit, and Hermione, Neville and the twins a book. The twins reading had surprised Harry until he found out it was a certain prank book, sent by a certain ex-professor. Naturally, they were studying every word.

That Remus Lupin happened to be in the company of an escaped criminal just made it easier to write to Sirius. Harry just addressed the letter to Moony and then included bits intended for Sirius. It also meant he could use Hedwig, as Harry Potter writing to an old friend of his parents, wouldn't be thought too surprising. He didn't include too much detail, he was always aware the letters could be intercepted, even if Hedwig was the one delivering them. But it was enough to just be able to tell an adult about his day. Knowing that someone would be interested that he had raised his grade average from an A to E, and hoped to reach O by the end of the year, that he and Hermione had decided to be 'close' best friends until they were older, and how his extended studies were going.

Harry was rather happy with his marks. Not the full fifty, but forty five helped extend his lead over the other contestants even further. That, and with the announcement of the scores they could finally head up to the castle. The warming charms had left them warm enough, but damp clothes are not comfortable after a while, no matter the temperature.

###


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

A.N.: Thank you to all those who took the time to review. Each and everyone makes my day. Unfortunately I barely have time to write let alone answer everyone! Here's the next chapter.

###

Things weren't going Ronald Weasley's way. Last year had started out so well. A great trip to Egypt and a front page picture in the Prophet, a new wand, and robes that weren't previously owned by his brothers. True, they weren't brand new, but the distinction of having them to himself was enough for the youngest of six sons. Then to ruin a perfectly good year, he finds out that his pet of three years happened to be a mass murdering Death Eater.

The tickets to the World Cup had helped boost a rather boring summer, until of course his father had let slip that it was only the mention of Harry Potter that got so many tickets. It was the sort of good and bad he had to deal with since he became best friends with the Boy Who Lived. Ron had become accustomed to having to share the spotlight, and for a while it had been enough. But when Harry's name came out of the Goblet, Ron couldn't help the thought that Harry just had to get more attention. The reaction of the rest of the school just cemented his opinion that Harry had cheated his way into the tournament. Because Harry Potter was not normal, rules just didn't apply to him.

Ron had quickly made his way up to the Gryffindor Common Room. Not only did he want to get some distance, but he also wanted time to accept he would now be shunned by the rest of the school just because of his association with Potter. It was Second Year all over again. And for the first time Ron wasn't the only one who felt the same way. He had started the argument that night, but it had quickly been taken over by Collins. He had tried to stop the prefect until he realised that Collins was even more upset than the others.

Ron loved seeing the shocked look on his brother's faces when the vote was cast, Granger even looked like she was going to cry. It was unfortunate that Harry was so quickly pulled out of the Common Room. He would have enjoyed seeing the expression on his ex best friends face when he realised what he would have to do to be a Gryffindor again. That night was an orgy of self righteous encouragement amongst the majority of the House of Lions, he was sure Ginny would come around soon.

Of course, nothing ever went his way. By the next day Harry had decided to be all stubborn and tell everyone he hadn't entered himself. Obviously he had found a way around the oath, but everyone was falling all over themselves being nice to him once again.

What was it about Potter? Where was all the shouts of 'cheat' now? It hadn't worried him at first, but after the first week Ron realised how much things had changed. Gryffindor had gone from first to last in the competition for House Cup, mostly due to Granger being her usual swotty self. She had even infected the twins! And with the twins absence, life in the tower had become much more dull, and without them there was no one to get the supplies for a party. Now all five of them had become chummy with the Hufflepuffs, they seemed fine without having a house to belong to, and Ron couldn't see why they had to have their own rooms.

Without Neville around, Ron found himself rather lacking in people to spend time with. Ginny had taken to ignoring him, as had the rest of the house. It seemed to Ron that he was only noticed when Potter was around. Being the sidekick to Potter was bad, but it was even worse when your own house mates forgot about you.

And everyone seemed to be getting on, even Malfoy had stopped antagonising Potter, and worse of all he didn't seem to think Ron was worthy of noticing. Malfoy who had loved to make comments about the Weasley family, now seemed to have forgotten Ronald Weasley even existed.

Ron found himself alone most of the time. Dean and Seamus, as much as they agreed with him to start with, were best mates and spent all their time together, quite a lot of it on some stupid extra credit for Potions. Ron really thought it was just bad form on his roommates part, not to make sure he got up in the mornings. The rush for showers probably played a part. It seemed as if, in addition to the dismal atmosphere, the Gryffindor tower hated it's inhabitants now that Harry bloody Potter wasn't living there.

Life was hard enough with scraping through all the work, let alone having to deal with no hot water, or heating. Laundry took days and Ron had found himself on occasion freezing because he had no clothes to wear. Of course, he thought about just wearing his week old clothes, the smell couldn't be that bad, but the house elves seemed rather quick to collect dirty laundry, just not so quick in returning it.

The delivery of a letter instead of the expected second hand dress robes meant that Ron went home for Christmas, rather than stay for the Ball. Thinking on it, he was rather glad. He could get away from Potter and Granger making doe eyes at each other, even Longbottom had a date, and enjoy a nice family holiday and his mothers cooking. He was sure a week or two of his mother's displeasure would straighten Ginny out. The twins he had no hope of helping, they were stuck with their choice. Thoughts of lie ins and hot showers made him rather glad to leave, until of course he arrived on the platform to find none of his siblings had joined him, and instead of the usual crushing hug his mother had just nodded to him and side Apparated them home.

It wasn't until his father returned home from work that evening that he found out what was going on. Really, his grades weren't _that_ bad. They weren't great but all this talk of failing was just silly talk to make him into a swot. He didn't even think it was _possible_to fail out of Hogwarts. He definitely hadn't heard of such a case, that was Hermione's department though, odd facts that nobody was interested in.

At first, he thought he could just spend time in his room and pretend to study, he was an artist at hiding 'Flying with the Canons' behind a text book, but he was shocked to find his parents were actually serious. Stuck in Bill's room for eight hours a day, all the furniture except a desk and chair had been removed. There was nothing else in the room except text books, writing supplies and an enormous list of essay titles to be finished. And because he had no warning, he didn't even have copies of the work he had already done to fudge new versions.

But no matter how much Ron tried to explain, no matter what excuses he gave, his parents wouldn't let up. He was stuck doing all the work from last term all over again, in an effort to 'boost his grade' his parents told him. Obviously this was all Granger's fault. His grades were fine before she started helping Potter and Longbottom. Now their grades miraculously improved and all anyone could talk about was how bad Ron's were in comparison, grades which were apparently acceptable last year. And honestly, why weren't the three excluded students punished for cheating? It was obvious Granger was doing all their work for them.

###

After they received their first 'O' in Potions, a first for Harry and Neville, the three of them threw themselves back into studying. Without the distractions of house life they made quick progress through the rest of the fourth year curriculum. It had been decided, after Hermione had scoured past exams that trying to cram all the fifth year studying into the next few months would be almost impossible, even for her.

Since they weren't Fifth years they had the option of taking the exams either at Hogwarts with the Fifth and Seventh years, or at the Ministry in August. The option to be able to defer some of the exams seemed the best plan, especially as Remus had written to them promising tutoring over the holidays. All three were going to take Transfiguration, Charms, Defence and Care at Hogwarts. Divination, Muggle Studies and Runes would be attempted in the castle as well.

Even though Neville was confident about his knowledge in Herbology, that exam would be taken at the Ministry alongside Potions, Arithmancy and History. All of them wanted a little more practise at brewing without the presence of the resident Potions Master. Snape had been much more, dare they say it, _nice_since their exclusion, but brewing around him was still a nerve wracking experience all the same. History and Arithmancy would take some work to be guaranteed a pass mark, and Hermione was already scheduling with Remus, making plans for their summer study sessions.

With their distance from the rest of their peers, both from residing in private quarters and from studying ahead, the three fourth years were left observing their year mates. Gryffindor had yet to recover from the loss of their most famous student, and the students sporting a Lion crest were still rather subdued. The emergence of Badger House as he new leaders had settled down some, but it was still obvious that things had changed. Even the older years had started to work alongside each other in mutual attempt to get along, if not complete harmony.

A few attempts of taunting from some students, most notably Ron in an effort to gain attention, ended up with a deluge of pranks to make their life hell. Funnily enough, only Ron had to be taught that lesson more than once. The pranks were completely harmless, while being an inconvenience to the target, and entertainment to onlookers. In one of said altercations, a Pureblood Slytherin had uttered the word 'Mudblood' and had found himself unable to speak for a week. It was soon understood that in this new world, such behaviour would not be tolerated. And funnily enough, now certain students weren't making such an effort to discriminate, life became much more harmonious in the castle.

###

"The hedges are a hybrid. Magically resistant Guardian Hedges of the genus _Custodia Planta_, they've been spliced with Venomous Tentacula."

Harry had briefed his friends on the final task as soon as he returned from meeting Bagman. Hermione had already started planning a new training regime, as he would need to learn rather a large amount of spells to deal with an unknown assortment of obstacles. The twins had been skulking around the maze, and Neville had been experimenting on the samples they had brought back.

"The Guardian Hedges are normally used to mark property. They are quick growing and produce a thick wall of foliage. It's also highly resistant to both magic and mundane means of breaching. The Venomous Tentacula is…" before Neville could continue the twins piped in.

"Nasty thing that is,"

"…likes to grab students from behind,"

"…only time Sprout lets us swear."

"Anyhow," Neville just spoke over them. It was the only was to get them to stop, "it has mobile vines and spikes on the stems. The spikes can be highly poisonous."

"Just what I didn't need, so if there's no way to go through them, what about mapping out the maze?"

"The hedges are still growing but I have detected some movement, the maze changes randomly."

"What about your broom?"

"Didn't I tell you? The judges have decided nothing can be summoned. We have to go in on foot. It would be a short task otherwise."

"Yeah, Krum's face when he realised what you had done was brilliant!"

"The Quidditch star not thinking to fly!"

"The Wizarding World doesn't teach logic." Hermione stated, rather miffed, though if the look on her face was anything to go by, she had just had a 'light bulb moment'. They had spent hours trying to explain the concept to the three purebloods, with little success.

"Wait, what exactly did the judges say?"

"We can't summon anything, and no brooms allowed. They made a point to say the Cup had anti summoning charms placed on it."

"So what if you just carried something with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Potions, a knife, anything. If you have them on your person, you wouldn't need to summon them."

"Do you think that would work?"

"Well if you were meant to succeed through wand use only, they would have said so, wouldn't they?"

"Logic, Hermione."

"Well it's not your fault if they weren't clear. Perhaps you should get it in writing though, just to be sure."

"I have an idea," Neville was a lot less timid now, but he seemed slightly unsure of himself at the moment, "what about an extra strength Herbicide potion."

"Do you know how to alter it to attack the hedge?" It was rather shocking to see Hermione ask someone else for knowledge.

Neville nodded, "Madame Sprout had me help her last year, there was a fungus attacking the Mandrakes." Neville shrugged his shoulders and offered a shy smile, "she thought it would boost my confidence in Potions."

"I go in first due to points, so I'll run for a bit until I'm out of sight and I'll use this potion to make holes in the hedges?"

"You may have to use spells. Maybe start with a freezing spell, then the potion then a bludgeoning spell? The potion dries out the plant, so cutting or bludgeoning spell might work to create a bigger hole."

"Okay, so will 'Point Me' work?"

"Don't see why not." Hermione shrugged. "But just in case, a few days before, fly high above it and figure the direction from the starting area to the centre."

"Won't I just be making a path for the others though? I mean, eventually they'll catch up with me."

"The hedges have fast regeneration power. Do you have to get out with the Cup?"

"No, the cup will apparently be a portkey. At least that's one thing I don't have to worry about. Something tells me I wouldn't enjoy duelling with the those three."

"What about some other potions?" Fred spoke up.

"…Just in case?" George added.

"In case of…?"

"If one of the others catches up to you,"

"…or you meet one of Hagrid's pets?"

Harry let out a moan and slid down on the couch. That was all he needed. The Blast Ended Skrewts had stopped growing and now even Hagrid had trouble handling them.

"But I think Harry should do all the brewing." Hermione and her ideas.

"What? I know I've improved but…"

"But if the judges object, the fact that you brewed them yourself would cut off any assertion you received outside help."

"Huh, okay…" Harry was trying to think it through.

"Doesn't mean the four of us won't be right next to you while you brew. Just for safety of course."

Of course, Hermione wouldn't leave him to his own potions knowledge. He wouldn't survive the weeks until the task if that was the case.

"And it'll be revision,"

"…yep, can't forget that NEWTs are next year,"

"…true brother, very true."

"Thanks guys. Now all I need to do is clear it with Snape."

"You're on your own there mate."

Harry and Hermione shared a look.

"Plan C?"

Hermione agreed.

"Plan C."

###

The teachers, even Snape, had kept the fact that the three students were attempting to take their OWLs early a secret. In fact, he didn't even need to be threatened. It was however something that would have made him lose his customary composure only a few months before.

Not many people knew it, but Snape had been offered the option to take his NEWT potions at the same time as his OWLs. He was a prodigy in the making, and regardless of his personality, Slughorn was most anxious to collect him as was his wont.

The incident with the werewolf, though he could see that it was foolish of him to follow Black's egging, disrupted his studying. Coming that close to death and to then be saved by the boy who had tormented his school days was life changing to the reclusive Slytherin. Before, the bitterness and scorn he had for others had been kept at bay by the mere presence of Lily Evans. That he then had to wait an entire month, being prodded and tested to make sure he wasn't infected, just made everything ten times worse.

He could still remember the horror on Lupin's face when he found out, Severus being confined to the Hospital Wing while tests were being run was forced into close proximity to the thing that had just tried to kill him. Maybe Dumbledore thought it would bring them closer, somehow erase the five years of suffering he had undergone.

If that was the intention, it had back fired.

Staring at the weak pathetic form of the boy, Snape could only see the snarling teeth and yellow eyes of a killer. Lupin's passive nature annoyed him, as it was just a front to manipulate those around him and convince them of his harmless nature. But Severus knew different. Inside that meek polite exterior lived a bloodthirsty beast that quite possibly had infected him as well. Knowing what he might have to endure, not only the transformation every month, but becoming an outcast in the real world he was quite ready to end himself.

And if he was infected? Well he knew his father well enough to know that he would be disowned, his mother too weak to help him, and her family was rather good at pretending he didn't exist. And Dumbledore? Well he had no allusions that he would be offered the same concessions that Lupin enjoyed. He wasn't the golden Gryffindor that Lupin was, and the Headmaster, while he never outspokenly showed his feeling for the House of Snakes, nevertheless allowed his preference to show on enough occasions that he knew that he would find no recourse there.

It was then that his obsession began, continuing even after he was cleared, to create something to control the beast, if not kill it. It left a bitter taste in his mouth that his greatest achievement, the formulation of the Wolfsbane potion was created from such a painful time in his life. That it was instrumental in him gaining his mastery at such a young age tainted everything afterwards.

Lupin had always been in the background when the marauders tormented him. In fact when Lupin was with Lily and it was jut the three of them, Severus could almost like the boy. His about turn regarding the quiet boy had Lily asking questions he wasn't allowed to answer. And it was a reoccurring thought in the back of his head. Whether she knew about the beast lurking within.

With the stress of waiting for his fate to be decided on the turn of a moon, his obsession in researching some hint of a cure while still revising for his exams, put a strain on the already fracturing friendship with Lily. It was after the Defence exam and Severus had gone to the lake looking for some peace and quiet. Slughorn had already told him that he had been withdrawn from the NEWTs exam due to his falling grade average. He knew he should feel something, anger or despair, something, but he was rather numb. That the cause of such trouble then decided that they needed entertainment, and used Severus even after what had happened, formed a never ending hatred. That Lily was there was something to just add to his pain.

So Severus wouldn't begrudge the three students the chance he never had. The 'What Ifs' had plagued his life for so long. What if he had taken the NEWT exam. He would have received notice for his talents, perhaps even an apprenticeship to keep him from the reach of recruiting Death Eaters. More than likely, he would have been recruited that much faster for his talents, but he liked to think with options available to him his teenage self would have taken a different path, perhaps made amends with Lily.

And aside from such maudlin thoughts, it was a chance to get Longbottom out of his classroom a year early. Potter was bad but Longbottom was a menace. The boy couldn't go within ten feet of a cauldron without making it explode. And perhaps it would make his other students start to apply themselves next year. OWL year was a battle to keep the students applying themselves equally to each subject. With the prospect of failing, when their year mates had passed a year early, would make the Ravenclaws and Slytherins work that much harder to succeed.

That, and the fact that after accepting Potter's offer he was rather mellow. He still thought that he had gotten the better part of the deal, but Potter seemed satisfied and Severus couldn't help smile at the thought of the Boy Who Lived being too Gryffindor, even when trying to be a Slytherin.

###


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

###

Severus was contemplating an evening spent sipping elf made wine that Lucius had sent him a week ago. It had taken a detention scrubbing cauldrons and quite a few harsh reminders, but Draco was now behaving like a Slytherin, as was befitting a Malfoy heir. Foolishly baiting Potter and proclaiming his distaste for Muggleborns was neither cunning nor intelligent, nor was endlessly antagonising Weasley, though Snape could relate to such motivations. Lucius had sent the wine as a thank you, apparently the difference could even be seen in Draco's letters home.

Lucius and Severus were two of a kind. Death Eaters, who as Slytherins were determined to be on the right side. No matter which side that was.

Lucius wasn't a spy as such, but Severus could only do so much with the information he himself received or he would run the risk of compromising himself as the source. However, near the end of the last war Lucius had confronted Snape in a rather Gryffindor manner. Nothing too explicit was said, but they reached an understanding. Since then Lucius had fed Severus pertinent information when needed. The movement of their more dangerous associates, rumours of the Dark Lord's return to power, even happenings in the political arena. Severus wasn't naïve, Lucius didn't tell him everything, but it was a help to have assistance when entering the Dark Lord's domain.

It was Snape's testimony of Lucius' help that enabled the man to walk free on an 'Imperious' defence. Declared innocent, but not too innocent that his past associates would be suspicious of him, Lucius had established himself as a well know politician and member of various boards. Severus was content to remain teaching at Hogwarts. Teaching wasn't his dreamed of occupation, but it kept him close to Dumbledore, which pleased everyone, and it gave him access to a world famous library for research and greenhouses for ingredients.

If it weren't for the presence of the students, it would be perfect.

Speaking of students, why on earth did they have to interrupt what was promising to be such a relaxing evening?

###

Harry had asked for and received the 'updated' rules for the third, and final, task. Luckily, since he had asked the Ministry, whose love of paperwork was legendary, nobody commented on it. Hopefully none of the other competitors heard what he had done. He would hate to lose any advantage.

Now that he had checked that having potions on his person wouldn't be a violation of the rules, he had to talk with Snape. True, he had something that he was sure would interest the man, visiting the Chamber of Secrets on its own would probably be enough for such a diehard Slytherin. But Harry wanted to gain the man's support, not just his grudging acceptance.

Hopefully access to a sixty foot basilisk corpse would do the job.

It was Friday evening, and Harry was making his way down to the dungeons with the aid of his Invisibility Cloak and Marauders Map. Curfew hadn't fallen, but Harry Potter going anywhere near the dungeons when he didn't need to would raise comment. Everyone had agreed that though not completely necessary, secrecy would be for the best when it came to 'Plan C'.

Finding himself standing in front of the Potion Master's office door, Harry took a deep breath and calmed his mind. It would work, it had to work. Harry smiled at how such thoughts had become his mantra this year. But after preparing as much as he could, he had to let events unfold as they would. Hoping that his luck held Harry assured himself he was actually alone before he pulled of his cloak and put it and the Map in his book bag.

After being ordered to enter Harry took a final deep breath and pushed the door open.

It will work, it just has to work.

###

Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom were standing to the side of the entrance hall conversing quietly and trying to remain unnoticed. Harry Potter remaining unnoticed was rather a hard thing to do, even in Hogwarts, but luckily the other students were much more concerned about the upcoming exams than the presence of three fourth years. In order to accommodate the Tournament, the theory tests were to be completed in one week and included both NEWT and OWL students.

Placed at the back of the Hall they were able to be the last in and first out. Hopefully the news that they were sitting the OWLs a year early would wait a while. The exams would be hard enough without the added pressure of everybody watching them.

On Monday they had Transfiguration in the morning and Charms in the afternoon. Having the two most difficult theory papers on the same day had made the previous weekend rather stressful, but even Hermione was glad that they were over and done with.

Tuesday morning they had Defence which had been easy for the three students after their combined and separate Hogwarts experiences. The exam covered the expected questions on the more common hexes and spells, as were the essay topics on dark creatures. Werewolves and Dementors featured most prominently, and Harry idly wondered if the person who had set the questions knew the goings on at Hogwarts last year.

Thursday saw Hermione set off alone for the morning Runes exam. When she returned there was little time to discuss it as they reviewed for the COMC exam that afternoon. Like Defence, Care of Magical Creatures had been almost tailor made for the three fourth years for the same reason. There were the usual questions about Bowtruckles and Crups, but the essay question asked for foot long introduction to a rare and/or dangerous species. Neville had written about the Cerberus, he had heard so much about Fluffy that he easily filled the parchment required. Harry and Hermione had opted for Acromantula, as they both thought mentioning the Basilisk was just asking for trouble.

Divination had actually gone quite well, at least Harry thought so. The practical might pose a bit of a problem, but Hermione had made it her mission to find some rigour to the subject, and had tested Harry and Neville extensively on the common practises and uses of the Art.

Muggle studies had left Harry and Hermione bewildered at how easy the topic was. Hermione, as was her wont, was planning on getting all the Muggleborns in their year to sign up for the exam. It was a point of contention for her, that Muggleborns were less likely to get positions in the Ministry that involved the muggle world, just because they didn't have a Muggle Studies qualification. That all of a sudden a quarter of Hogwarts students would have an additional subject on their records was just an added bonus.

That weekend the twins had taken over their studying. After a bit of a struggle with Hermione they had made their point, and had spent the majority of the time randomly quizzing them. Sometimes with a particular spell, sometimes asking for a particular effect. The last part even caught Hermione off guard once or twice. At the end of it, they were all rather confident about the upcoming practicals. It was surprising really, at how good the twins were at teaching.

###

"Before we finish for the evening I'd like to thank everyone's hard work during the past week. The students seem to be doing well, and there have only been a few instances of exam stress that needed to be dealt with."

Dumbledore twinkled at the rest of the staff. Of course he didn't mention that the more spectacular breakdowns normally occurred during the practical exams, no need to worry the Professors unduly.

"Now if I may have a few words with the Heads of Houses, the rest of you may leave."

Minerva rolled her eyes at the gracious tone, ignoring the grumbling of her fellow teachers who moved quickly out of the room lest they be called back.

Why the headmaster had insisted on such a long staff meeting at the end of the first exam week, she didn't know. Severus had snarked that Dumbledore was just exercising his power. For all that the tournament had been his idea, the pay off had not come to fruition. The papers were more interested in Potter than the aging headmaster, and when Dumbledore tried to make an announcement it seemed as if the fourth year's opinion held more weight with the press. Not something that was designed to make the Headmaster happy.

Once the rest of the faculty had left the four heads of house turned their attention to the headmaster, all individually praying in their own way that he would be quick.

"While looking over the names of students taking exams, you can imagine my surprise, and concern, that there were three fourth years taking their OWLs."

Snape concealed his emotions behind his usual calm façade. Of course, Dumbledore wouldn't have cared if it didn't involve a certain student named Potter. In fact Dumbledore quite often had trouble placing an individual student's year group unless it had something to do with his favourite chess piece.

"Concern headmaster?" Flitwick's voice was innocent of any sarcasm, but the others could still hear it. "Surely their achievements should be celebrated and given a chance to flourish?"

"Academic achievement should be rewarded of course, but I am troubled of the effect it will have on their interactions with their peers."

"All three of them showed that they had advanced greatly in the time since they have been excluded Albus. In fact, I think holding them back would have had a detrimental effect."

The other three teachers nodded in agreement and Dumbledore seemed to surrender to the unified front his staff were showing. His position as headmaster truly meant he was more of an administrator, even then Minerva took on most of those responsibilities now that Tom was gathering strength. That was how she had been able to enter the three for exams without his knowledge. Why couldn't the people around him just behave? It would make things so much easier. Of course he couldn't help but try one last time.

"Ah, yes. But what of their year mates? It will make integration that much harder when they return to Gryffindor."

Severus couldn't contain his snort at that. "Hopefully it'll shock their year mates into actually studying next year, instead of just trying to cram five years of education into a few days worth of revision."

"And really headmaster. Even a Hufflepuff would find forgiveness hard after what the Gryffindors did. I'm sorry to say I don't see either side willing to take the first step towards reintegration." Professor Sprout was firm in her opinion. She wasn't going to try and force the excluded students to rejoin their house.

"They can't remain excluded forever!"

Harry Potter being excluded from Gryffindor was a black mark that would have people questioning his management of Hogwarts. Let alone making manipulating the boy into doing his bidding that much harder. The boy's isolation at Hogwarts actually worked against his plans, though during the summer months it was exactly what he needed. Luckily the boy hadn't gotten out of the tournament. Tom would make his move soon, and faced with such an overwhelming superior opponent the boy would have to turn to Dumbledore as a mentor. Too busy convincing himself he missed Minerva's parting comment.

"Why not Albus? There is no rule against it, and as it stands everything in the Hogwarts charter forbids them becoming a part of Gryffindor again."

###

Due to the special circumstances, and probably slight disbelief on the part of the examiners, their practical exams would be taken separately to the other students. Hermione had spent over an hour analysing the whys and wherefores of the change and had only stopped when Fred mentioned how much time she was losing from practising.

To be honest Harry was actually feeling rather confident, though he didn't say as much to his friends. There was still a disbelief that his magic would actually work. Sometimes he had dreams of being a muggle and foolishly waving a stick around in the belief that something would happen. That and he didn't want to jinx the whole thing.

The divination practical had been relatively easy, interpreting tarot cards and tea leaves. The same with Care of Magical creatures. Identifying a Krup and approaching and grooming a Thestral.

The Transfiguration and Charms practicals had both been stressful but altogether satisfying. Studying with the twins had given them an insight to the uses simple transfiguration or charms could be used for. The constant practise had made even Neville confident, and all three had performed brilliantly.

The highlight of the exams though had to be Defence. Even the presence of Mad Eye Moody hadn't affected them. Their strangest teacher yet, the Professor had barely said a work to them all year, though they found themselves the object of his magical gaze more often then not. Technically they had learned a lot from his classes, even 'Constant Vigilance' had allowed them to avoid a few confrontations with Ron and Malfoy. The man just creeped Harry out for some reason.

The usual testing had proceeded without fanfare, the three fourth years easily able to perform the standard OWL level spells. It was at the end though, when they had finished, that one of the examiners had asked Harry to cast his Patronus for a guaranteed O. Soon Prongs was joined by a frolicking otter and a lumbering bear. The examiners disbelief had Harry explaining his experiences with the dementors the previous year.

"And truthfully, so much magic is about belief, and since I so desperately wanted to be able to protect myself, well" Harry gave a shy shrug, "my magic responded. Neville and Hermione are good friends, and so I helped them learn it. It's not _that_hard really."

With that the three students left with the knowledge that they had received at least one Outstanding mark on their exams.

Harry stood staring at the hedge in front of him, trying once again to block out the noise of the spectators. Hermione and Neville had just left to find their seats before the task began. OWLs over, Harry had spent the day with Remus, Snuffles and the other four ex Gryffindors. Either by luck or planning all the exams they wanted to take had finished a few days ago, and with the rest of the school involved in their end of year exams, Harry was able to spend time with his family.

Professor Flitwick had been the one to tell him of the tradition and he had quickly asked for Remus, and his pet dog. Flitwick's response was just a small nod of the head. Harry wasn't sure who knew what, and was keeping the true identity of Snuffles a closely guarded secret. Hermione had even gone to the trouble of hexing Ron silent on the topic. Ron's big mouth was one less thing to worry about.

After wandering around the castle and Lunch in their Common Room, where after numerous secrecy spell Sirius was able to Harry Hermione and Remus as a human for once, they made their way down to the Quidditch Pitch. The maze was contained within the stand boundaries but Neville's guess turned out to be correct and the routes were constantly changing. Luckily the hedges were of such a height that very little could be seen at ground level. He idly wondered if, after the first task, the judges had made the action hidden from view on purpose.

Focusing on the hedge Harry spared a smile for Professor Flitwick who had joined him. Taking a few deep breaths he patted his robes down. The shredded skin of the Basilisk had made a brilliant undershirt. Slightly tough at the joints, Harry had taken to wearing it constantly for the last week to get accustomed to moving in it. Over his leather Quidditch trousers and top, he wore a dark grey robe. Purposefully not showing any house colours, nor the black and purple Hogwarts colours that Cedric sported, Harry was enforcing the idea that he was an unwilling participant and that Cedric was the only Hogwarts champion. That and the dark grey was much less noticeable that red, blue or purple.

Knowing that each point difference made for ten seconds Harry was rather glad he had done so well in the previous tasks. Harry was twenty points ahead of Krum and Cedric who were tied in second place. One hundred seconds didn't seem like much, but they could last a lifetime if he made them count. Readjusting his potion belt through his robe once more Harry started mentally berating the minister as he prattled on about nothing of importance. Like Lockhart, the man just liked to hear himself speak.

Finally given the nod Harry moved towards the entrance of the maze. Glancing back at his friends and Remus he gave them one last smile before readying himself for the starting whistle. Felling confident Harry ran into the maze casting a Point Me spell at the centre.

Honestly. What could go wrong?

###

Seeing his wand pointing directly forwards when he had to travel either right of left Harry chose the right path, hurrying down until he was out of sight of the starting point. Quickly unfastening his robes he cast a Freezing spell on a smooth patch of hedge. Throwing the potion vial at the roots he was relieved to find that the potion worked as expected. The foliage died and thinned and Harry quickly threw a few wide cutting curses to make a hole. Stooping through the hole Harry cast the point me spell to re orientate himself. In the few seconds he had taken to cast, the hole behind him had started to close up, now it was no longer passable and at the rate it was regenerating soon there would be no damage at all.

Harry repeated the same actions over and over. Once surprised by a Blast Ended Skrewt, Harry quickly levitated the creature over the hedge he had just passed through, releasing the spell only when he was sure the hole was too small for it to attack him from behind.

After thirteen hedges he was starting to worry, the whistle had just sounded for the third time meaning Cedric and Krum had now been joined by Fleur. He hadn't seen any sign of the other contestants, but neither had he seen any red sparks. Hoping that he wasn't just travelling in circles, Harry threw another vial of potion at the roots of the hedge in front of him. Surprised when the hedge seemed to be thicker Harry threw another vial. Was the hedge becoming resistant? Neville had posited that option, but they had decided that even magical plants took longer than a few minutes to gain such a resistance. Hoping his friend was right Harry took careful aim and started casting overpowered cutting curses.

Finally creating a hole large enough, he forced himself through the gap, only to stumble on getting to the other side. Obviously the thicker boundary had marked the centre of the maze.

Wand ready, Harry kept his back to the now repaired hedge and surveyed the clearing. In the centre on a stone pedestal stood the glass and metal TriWizard Cup. The bluish magical light emanating from the cup threw concealing shadows over the area, and though Harry knew the clearing was square-ish in shape there still seemed to be movement in the shadows.

Keeping an eye on the three entrances, Harry checked he was alone both visually and magically, making sure that there were no obvious traps to be found. Knowing that grabbing the cup would end it, he was still cautious about being too confident so he took a small step forward. Luckily for him, his caution allowed him to spot a fast emerging shadow from one of the entrances to his left.

Retreating, Harry turned to face the new threat. On seeing a mid sized Acromantula scuttling towards him, Harry drew upon his magic to throw a powerful 'Depulso' at the creature. Seeing the arachnid tumble over itself as it was pushed backwards, Harry sprinted towards the Cup. He knew from experience that a considered retreat was the best option when faced with Aragog's descendants.

Keeping his eye on the creature that was trying to right itself, Harry grasped the nearest handle on the cup and tried to brace himself for his second experience of portkeying.

As his stomach was turned inside out, Harry was conscious of one particular thought.

_That wasn't too bad now, was it?_

###


End file.
